Anna, Amy and Jess headed to All Saints School to help out at their summer Fete.

Anna was queen of the inflatables and although they had some issues with holes she kept the queue flowing and the kids were having a great time!

Amy was on the face painting stool, she was crafting everything from flowers and butterflies to Pokemon and Owls!!

Jess was on her second marshaling stint of the day, from runners at Parkrun to cars at the Fete! Everyone was shown to their space and she even got to show the Fire Engine it's spot!

We all enjoyed the sunshine and it looked like everyone was enjoying themselves!!

11 GoodGymers gathered on a cool Spring evening at the All Saints Church to help improve the cemetery grounds.

A special shout out to all those who cycled to the mission; a whopping 45% (which is nearly 50% if you just round it off!) of the total attendance! Possibly our largest turnout on two wheels. Whoop! 🚴‍♀️🚴🚴‍♀️🚴

Task owners Jo and Anne were waiting for us in the churchyard and gave us a detailed brief and tools.

1. Team Alkanet (Sara, Roberta, Georgeta, Angela, Viv, Tessa, Anna and Amy) went about the strategic task of removing the pretty-but-invasive plants growing within old graves. While these were to be removed from graves as a matter of respect, they were also to be retained in the surrounding areas for bees and insects to enjoy. For their efforts, they were treated to a glorious light of the setting sun.

2. A smaller group (Tony, Rosie and Diya) were led by Jo to the far end of the grounds. Team Bramble cleared out a whole lot, uncovering a few graves which had been completely overrun by the brambles. RIP, hope people can visit them as well now.

An hour and 4 large Hippo bags later, we said our goodbyes. It was hard work but as always, satisfying and wonderfully social.

Four GoodGymers gathered at Ray Mill Island to help the Friends with their ongoing project to transform the area into a more welcoming and biodiverse place. Today's task was to continue with the dry hedging which is separating off an area which has been sown with wildflowers. Various old branches had been collected which we added to the hedge, and some stronger, more flexible hazel branches were woven over the top to help hold everything in place. We also planted a small oak tree in the area which we hope will one day grow as big as the copper beech which is on its way out (but is still a treasure trove of biodiversity) We all learned some new skills. The last job was to water the recently- planted areas - Mick using the hose, and Sheila making use of the Thames water whilst not falling in!

It was the first session of the year at the Community Allotment, and we couldn't have picked a lovelier evening. Anna and Sheila set straight to work, tasked with freeing the fig plants from in amongst the weeds. We filled 3 trugs with cleavers, brambles and nettles, which did their best to fight back. The figs can now grow on, unimpeded. In the remaining time; we gave the raspberry beds a quick weed too