It was an early start for Meggie and myself this morning, a chilly morning too (4°C), as we've joined other volunteers for the Maidenhead Half Marathon. The atmosphere heated up quite quickly, when thousands of runners taking on the challenge.
I was a marshaling not far from the start/finish point, while Meggie was stationed in Cookham. It was a beautiful autumnal day with the sun shining and everyone enjoyed the day. We've spotted a few GoodGym-ers in the race and they got extra cheers. We'll done, everyone!

In the last scheduled session this year at the Community Allotment, Rosie and Sheila cleared what was left of the beetroot crop, covered the bed with the last scraping from the compost bin, and covered the bed with plastic. We scavenged waste wood from around the site and used it to hold the plastic in place through whatever storms the winter will bring. All whilst being watched over by our resident robin.

Jen and Sheila, having just been promoted to Lead Rangers, led today's session at Ray Mill Island for the first time. We had 7 volunteers, some of whom had their own projects to work on, but also some new volunteers. We worked on trying to weed the invasive Winter Heliotrope out of the rockery by the Vintage Boys sculpture. At one point Jen had a Ladybird in her hair, and as Sheila tried to gently remove it, we thought it may have fallen inside Jen's Goodgym jacket. Whilst trying to check it wasn't trapped, Jen was delighted to find a secret pocket inside the zip. It made her day! The session finished with a wheelbarrow full of weeds and a clearer rockery

It was lovely to welcome Pooja to the Baby Bank for her very first GoodGym mission. We were stationed in the Uniform Room, checking donations and storing them away in the appropriate boxes, ready for when needed. We were very picky about which items we kept - the recipients of our services deserve good quality items. Pooja proved to be great at this as she had previously volunteered in a charity shop. Between us we worked through several bags of donations, leaving everything in a tidy condition ready for the half term break

Brenda was very grateful to have her small garden tidied.

On a damp and blustery day, Christine, Sue, Maggie and Sheila joined taskowner Karen Davies at Spital Cemetery in Windsor. While Karen put up some poppies for Remembrance Sunday, the rest of us tackled a wild rose overgrowing a grave belonging to 2 sisters who had both lived to a ripe old age. All of a sudden, who should make a surprise visit, but Amy and Rachel fresh from a Pilates class. Amy presented me with the most beautifully crafted medal adorned with a spade and GG cap to celebrate my 1000th Good Deed. We all continued working until we had finished the job and left the cuttings in a bag for Tivoli to pick up. As the rain began to fall, we retired to the shelter of the chapel doorway and enjoyed some delicious carrot cakes made by our very own super-chef, Rachel. Wonderful! Thanks to everyone for making the session so special - I felt thoroughly spoilt!