What a day!

On Saturday we celebrated an incredible milestone as GoodGym Richmond turned 10 years old. It was fantastic to see so many familiar faces, old friends, new members, GoodGymmers from other area, community partners and supporters all together to celebrate everything we've achieved over the last decade.

What made the day even more special was that we were celebrating on the exact 10th anniversary of our very first session. Back in July 2016, over 40 runners set off from Whole Foods in the middle of a heatwave to tackle Himalayan balsam. Anyone who's been around GoodGym Richmond for a while will know that some things never change – we're still pulling out that same stubborn plant!

Since that first run, 623 amazing people have been part of GoodGym Richmond, completing an incredible 7,911 tasks across our borough. That's nearly 8,000 hours of volunteering for local charities, community organisations and green spaces. Along the way, members who've tracked their runs have also covered over 82,000 kilometres – that's the equivalent of running around the world twice.

But while the numbers are something to celebrate, they only tell part of the story. GoodGym has always been about people. It's about showing up for our communities, finding purpose in movement, making friends, improving our mental health, settling into a new area, and discovering that doing something good for someone else often does us a world of good too.

Over the last ten years we've had the privilege of supporting so many fantastic organisations. From Achieving for Children, local Scout and Guide groups, schools, care homes and community centres, to Richmond Furniture Scheme, Integrated Neurological Services, St Christopher's Fellowship, Purple Elephant and so many others. We've helped care for Petersham Common, Ham Lands, Crane River and other treasured green spaces, built community allotments from the ground up, and turned up week after week to lend an extra pair of hands wherever they were needed.

Sometimes we've simply helped make a task a little easier. Other times we've helped make projects happen that otherwise wouldn't have happened at all. Those moments make us especially proud.

None of this would have been possible without the organisations who've supported us over the years. A huge thank you to Richmond Council, whose original funding helped launch GoodGym Richmond ten years ago, to Richmond Foundation for their continued support and recently renewed grant, to Heathrow Community Trust, and to Richmond Council's Climate Action Group, whose recent micro-grant has helped us buy new equipment for our community base.

Thank you too to our event sponsor, Alpha Vets in Teddington, and a very special thank you to JP and Monica, who generously dug into their own pockets to help make our celebration such a lovely occasion.

The celebration was also a chance to recognise the incredible people who have shaped GoodGym Richmond over the years. Thank you to Mark, who laid the foundations by leading those very first sessions ten years ago, and to Sam, who led the group before me and helped steer us through the post-covid era.

Thank you to every single Run Leader and every member of TaskForce, past, present, and future! So much of what GoodGym does simply wouldn't happen without people quietly giving that little bit extra behind the scenes.

We also wanted to celebrate some very special individuals. Thank you to Anita, whose care and dedication have helped make our community space so beautiful, to JP, our most active member, and to Lucy, whose contribution over the years has been enormous.

A huge congratulations also goes to Chris, who celebrated his incredible 500th GoodGym task during the event! Reaching 500 tasks is an amazing achievement and we're delighted he got to wear the crown and collect his milestone T-shirt surrounded by so many friends.

We were honoured to be joined by the Mayor of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Councillor Nancy Baldwin, who spoke so warmly about GoodGym Richmond and reflected on presenting us with a Community Heroes Award in 2022. She spoke about the impact volunteers have across the borough and how remarkable it is for a volunteer organisation to thrive for ten years. We were incredibly grateful for her kind words and for taking the time to celebrate with us.

Finally, thank you to every single person who has been part of GoodGym Richmond over the last decade. Whether you've completed one task or hundreds, whether you've been with us since the beginning or only joined this week, you've helped build something really special. Together we've created a community that is welcoming, supportive, active and full of people who genuinely want to make Richmond a better place.

Here's to the first ten years of keeping fit by doing good, and to the next ten!

Our April Saturday trip to our sponsored riverside plot at Buccleuch Gardens, led by Susannah. This time the area was really showing the joys of spring with everything in abundance, including a variety of weeds! Lots to do for our group of happy chatty GoodGymmers for the long Easter bank holiday weekend, including first timers Rory and Jenna, welcome!

Leaves were removed from the lawn, beds were weeded, saplings pulled and the beautiful tulips were given space to breathe, an excellent impact all before midday on a Saturday! 🐣🐰

Today’s task had us swapping trainers for binoculars as we took part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. Our mission was simple: keep our eyes peeled, count the birds we spotted, and submit our findings to help track the UK’s bird population.

A few of us met in Marble Hill Park and we perched ourselves in prime viewing spots and soon we spotted a variety of familiar faces – from black crows, parakeets, robins and seagulls – all going about their daily beak-ness.

The task was a nice change of pace: calm, mindful, and a great reminder to slow down and appreciate nature. All observations were logged and submitted to the RSPB, helping them build a clearer picture of how our garden birds are doing. Overall, a very tweet task, well worth flocking to.

We are officially over half way through January, and that means officially half way through the GoodGym January Challenge.

Adam, JP, Lucy, Maena, and Monika were in Twickenham to quite literally rack up the good deeds on Saturday morning. We met with lovely Sarah from INS who had a few tasks to keep us busy. Between us, and some help from Sarah and her husband, we helped to erect a large metal chair hanging rang. Luckily we had the agility, balance, strength and coordination (plus enough pairs of hands) to make easy work of the construction. Adam was left on screw tightening duty whilst the rest of us got on with next job, which was some woodwork painting.

Over the past few months, GoodGym Richmond have made several visits to INS to help repaint various rooms, hallways, toilet radiators and everything inbetween. Just before Christmas we helped to put a fresh coat on the walls lining the stairway (who doesn’t love a new coat for the winter?!), so our plan was continue on from that, by giving the woodwork around the stairway a fresh lick. Not all heroes wear capes, some in fact have masking tape; as Maena and JP helped prep the surfaces and tape up around the edges. The rest of us got the brushes out and got to work on the edges and skirting boards, the stair rails and panelling. A very therapeutic task later, and we had completed all the bits we needed to, and JP had taped up ready for Monday, when we return to INS to continue our painting party.

There paint nobody who loves us better than a task owner who knows we get the job done, and with that we left the paint to dry until we head back on Monday evening for more good deeds and good fun!

On a cold and fresh day on the Ham Lands, the GoodGym team joined Sharon and the rest of the Friends of Ham Lands to tackle an overgrown patch of brambles. John, Pippa, Monika, Kate, Chris, Adam, Suze, Rosie, Alex and JP were armed with loppers, gloves and plenty of enthusiasm as we chopped back and uprooted the brambles to reduce competition and open up space for violets and snowdrops to thrive.

The task involved cutting through dense, thorny growth and digging out roots to help prevent regrowth. Working steadily as a team, we cleared the area and left it ready for spring flowers to emerge. By the end of the session, the site looked noticeably more open and light-filled, giving native plants a much better chance to establish and spread.

We finished up with a well-earned cup of tea with the Friends of Ham Lands group, before making our way to the Swiss Bakery for drinks and snacks — a perfect end to a thorny but rewarding mission.

Next time will be on Valentines Day - sign up here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/helping-the-happy-ham-landers-8ee7fa0c-756b-4d38-9748-7b6b725f7d2e

What a happy afternoon running around East Twickenham and St Margaret's to solve the clues and track down amazing treasure hunt creators Susannah, Beth and Monika!

Congratulations to winning team Anita, Adam and John who even put in a sprint finish, despite the lack of anyone else even being near the finish line! And a special mention to Rowan who joined in for the first time at GoodGym, right in at the deep end!

Thank you so much Monika, Suze and Beth, what a wonderful way to wrap up a summer of doing good in Richmond ❤️