A glorious morning of sunshine greeted the 7 GGers who headed out to the Ham Lands for a morning of doing good. As usual, Sharon was there to meet us and led the group to an area we had tackled around the same time last year, where we had cut down the suckers growing up near the cherry trees.

So it was a morning of sticks (and saplings and brambles). We cut them down from the main tree in the middle, from the surrounding areas and from the undergrowth, and gathered them up to deposit in the ever-increasing pile tucked away amongst the trees.

While most of us were having a stick-y time with the choppers and loppers, Rosie tackled an even stickier challenge left behind by a passing canine to help prevent sticky shoes for walkers using the pathway 💩

We worked hard and made a lot of progress, and at the end of our allotted time we had made a real difference, as well as soaking up some vitamin D from the warming sunshine.

All that was left was a group picture before we headed off to the Swiss bakery for delicious coffees and snacks.

Next time up is the 8th June - you can sign up here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/helping-the-happy-ham-landers-3ae1f524-d6fd-44ec-a291-890a4ec45133

Our Saturday mission was at the Landmark Art’s Centre, where we were digging up the footpath of their garden. We had to dig deep enough to get to the membrane and remove the membrane sheets. These have been there for quite a few years and it was more like tearing them out one bit at a time. There will be a new path laid, which will also be more accessible for wheelchair users. We spotted quite a few worms and fat, white grubs. Afterwards, we rewarded ourselves with a good ‘grub’ at the Anglers pub and enjoyed the sunshine!

This group run took us to the greatest Carolinian landscape in the world and a bat superhighway - Ham Avenues.

Here we came to the rescue of the European lime trees which were being troubled by nasty shoots aka "suckers" growing out from their trunks. These were no match for the GoodGymmers as we used loppers to cut them away.

It was a glorious evening for a gentle run/ walk along the river. We welcomed Joanna to her first GG task, celebrated Maena's birthday and took in Ken's local history knowledge.

Whether it was April showers, the solar eclipse or the dark clouds of Storm Katherine , it was a very dark and wet 'Second Monday of the month Group Run' session in April to Buccleuch Gardens in Richmond. A lively 2km there before the skies broke and a more direct route back when we were soggy!

Steph's celebratory 250 good deeds cape (achieved in under a year!), doubled as a poncho as he headed out into the rain and battled through the dense shrubbery at the back of the Gardens to collect litter. In the gloomy light, black clad and caped, our CCL superhero looked like he might have stepped from a Batman film or a Gothic novel. Except for the big smile, the running socks and the sod-the-rain attitude, which were pure GoodGym. Congratulations on an amazing achievement.

More brave souls (including Vix,on her first mission, showing she’s got the same chutzpah and can-do attitude) braved the rain to help with litter picking, bagging huge quantities of green waste, relocating daffodils and building a second (and brilliantly constructed) twig and branch barricade.

Others worked in the Arcade to strengthen the legs of our willow-withy plant supports, making them ready to support our summer annuals.

Because of the weird gloom, the rain and the time running 🏃🏽‍♂️ away, we didn’t manage to do any planting or seed-sewing before heading back to the Tap Tavern for our monthly social and a chance to dry off!

If you like gardening or want to help out, look out for some extra GG Richmond Buccleuch Gardens Community Missions over next couple of weeks or sign up for our next second Monday Group Run on 13 May.

We were re-wilding St Mary Magdalene churchyard and burial grounds. These burial grounds have been decommissioned a long time ago, but Ken still gave us diggers a warning, that it is unknown how many graves are still in the ground! Thankfully we didn't need to dig too deep and it was just a small patch, where seeds were strewn across. We will need to see how this patch will look like in the next month. Also, a big welcome to Olivia, who joined us for the first time!