Our group run had Tom, Claire, Rachel and Dave heading up Cranes Park to get to Surbiton Library. A cheeky little hill to keep us warm in the chilly evening. We met Marie Noelle, Di and Laurel there as they were all local to the venue. Giselle from Surbiton Library had asked us to help as they hadn't got any budget to take care of the external areas and the weeds had started to take over. GoodGym loves a challenge so we split up into two groups - one tackling the weeds in the car park and the other at the front hacking at the ivy that had gone wild in the planters.

All the tools were brand new so were in tip top shape. The only challenge was to keep balancing the brush on the pole as it was missing a screw to keep it in place. Must remember to let them know so it's fixed for next time!

The hour flew by with lots of chat to keep us going. We ended up filling 12 black bags with weeds and rubbish and we only managed to make a start! I've added in another session at Surbiton Library on March 14th so we can have another try when the soil is less frosty and easier to plant. Great task! Thank you to all that joined in and made a difference. It looks much more inviting now.

Lovely frosty morning at Hogsmill Garden, 4 of us gathered to tackle a list of tasks left by Julie and supervised by Brian. Whilst Janet and Emily tackled the bricks and compost bags tidy up, Di attacked the bramble coming through the fence, working alongside Brian. We then all joined them, clearing the area incl breaking down a wooden table and digging out a rotten pallet, moving all to the entry gate for it to be disposed off later. At the end we were all rewarded by Julie’s delicious fruit cake.

Our Tuesday Group run started off in a dry spell and we were hopeful we had missed the heavy showers. Up the hill to Vine Close we ran and met Elliot, Kingston's Biodiversity Officer, to see what jobs he had in store for us. We had already cleared a large amount of branches and with our good turn out, we had all hands on deck.

We moved to the back of the community garden at Vine Close and there was a big pile of branches to be hacked and bagged. We separated into two groups and got to task. Moving the branches revealed a frog, much to our delight, we gave him an inspection and set him off hopping into the night.

The night was filled with our voices and the sound of snapping branches and we soon filled up the two tonne bags. Elliot even jumped on top of one to make room for more garden waste. Not long after that, the heaven opened up and we got drenched. Ducking under trees and in the porches of the neighbouring bungalows, we decided to wait for the rain to ease off. Once it did, we collected all the tools and decided to call it a day. We ran back through the puddles on an easy run down the hill.

Great work, team! And what better way to finish the eve than our monthly social at the Albion. Cheers, everyone.

What a great turnout! 13 GoodGym keenos turned up to this evenings Group Run to Canbury Gardens. What incredible human beings you all are. After our warm up in Fairfield Park with our head torches on, we did a lap of the park and headed to the river to run the river path up to Canbury Gardens. It was a dark evening run so we had to be extra careful not to fall in the water by Turks Pier. There were too many of us to all help Marilyn at the Canbury Community Gardens so we split into two teams and 7 GoodGymers headed to our sponsored flower bed to plant the herb donations from the Hogsmill Community Garden.

Rob's report from the GoodGym sponsored garden
We cleared the bed of leaves and made a leaf border around the outside of the bed. This will give it more definition and maybe make it more obvious to the passing public and also create a nice habitat for little insects to hide in. We also potted the donated plants in the 'herby' area of the bed and pulled a few little weeds.

Rachel's report from Canbury Community Garden
Marilyn put us to task moving heavy bags of compost and emptying them on the raised beds so they had time to reinvigorate the soil over the winter months. One of the sections in the compost area was completely emptied out by Jorge and Sabir which is a big job in itself. Marilyn was really happy as her other volunteers don't have the strength to do these heavy tasks, especially in such a short amount of time.

Well done everyone that came along and helped. Real progress was made.

Next week's group run is to help move plants in the Jubilee Square and this Sunday we have a task at the Hogsmill Community Garden. Hope to see you there!