This evening started at Tap Tavern, as always, but with an added flourish as Area Activator Liz donned the wings to celebrate 100 GoodGym tasks! A blustery run along the riverside threatened to get the wings actually flying but the group arrived intact at Russell School, ready for action!

Following a very productive Sunday Community Mission at Russell School to carry out the first part of the task, tonight we laid the woodchip down and trampled it into position. With so many hands on deck, and leftover chippings, we were able to re-chip the nursery play area, tidy up the toys, remove some troublesome rubble and STILL find a little time to play on the climbing frames!

A last run back to the Tap completed the task, followed by celebratory drinks in the pub and a little look at the lovely team card made for Liz 😍😍😍

A sunny bank holiday Monday is an extra bonus reason to get out and do some good! Today's 'anywhere' litter pick was just the task.

A group arranged to meet at Old Deer Park to pick together (let Liz know if you would like to be added to the group to keep up to date!).

Beth battled an Easter hangover to pick up other people's mess. Steph got up early to clear up evidence in the street of the night before. Anita cleared up around Manor Road and reported fly-tipping to the council too. Amy was surprised to find Twickenham Green quite clean. Liz and her son tackled the local park and filled four disgusting bags.

Back to normal group runs next Monday, finally back on British Summer Time! ☀️

Cathy and Beth took to the streets of St Margarets to clear them of rubbish. There was plenty to get along the long streets, with such delights as poo bags, bottles of unmentionable liquids and a toy car. A nice chat was had and one resident thanked us for our work :)

Monika, Beth, JP and Cathy spent a sunny hour clearing litter from the Three Pigeons plot, Buccleuch Gardens, and surrounding areas to make the paths and land pristine. When starting, very little seemed to be there (hurrah!) but on closer inspection, more started to become apparent under the leaves and around the edges. JP seemed the most excited at finding new litter, with calls of 'ooh mayonnaise / crisp packet / BOTTLE' heard across the path. We had a nice chat about weekend plans, jobs and new prospects, before heading back to our respective roles, with Cathy continuing to clear the path back to St Margarets (with her own litter picker, no less - true dedication).

The third of four leaflet drops for the Shooting Star Children's Hospice took place in lunch break today, with 5 Richmond regulars and a new joiner (welcome, Nick!) hitting the streets with bundles of blue paper.

We started off Cambridge Park in East Twickenham, covering Alexandra, Morley, Denton, Cresswell and Cambridge Roads before crossing over to the other side and doing Beresford and Park Road, then finished off along Richmond Road.

Fortunately we managed to get done before the rain... hopefully it'll stay dry for the last round of leafleting at 10am on Saturday morning (meet at Richmond station) - sign up here for that one! https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/sharing-information-about-the-shooting-stars-christmas-tree-collection-d1331921-b40b-452a-aa0a-a8c3aae6ec06

A merry Twixmas task on the 5th day of Christmas, on Petersham Common to continue traditional hedgerow laying, a task we started earlier in December and are back to complete in January. This traditional method of hedgerow habitat creation involves lot of manual work: clearing the working area, pleaching the young trees, knocking in posts and weaving in wood to create the top part.

Above all of that though, the group gathered to celebrate Beth reaching 100 tasks. In only eleven months since joining too. Sal brought along her wonderful homemade brownies and a new set of wings for Beth to wear, Jp and Liz sorted the group card, Ken boiled up fresh coffee on his storm kettle (with a little cheeky Bailey's to add after the task) and the whole team brought the warm hugs and appreciation.

A massive congratulations and thank you for everything you do for the people we help in Richmond, and for GoodGym Richmond itself too. In Beth's own lovely words:

"I love GoodGym, I talk about it all the time... it's just exactly what I was looking for when I moved to the area."