Weeding ponds, paths and hedgerows was the name of the game for our Tuesday evening session, when eight GoodGymers headed to Edith Gardens, in Berrylands.

One of 12 designated nature reserves in the borough, this special site is used by people to access nature who might not otherwise be able to - such as disabled people and people suffering from mental health problems. So it’s important that it’s kept in good condition for their use.

Luke bravely volunteered to lean and ‘rake’ the pond to remove the algae on its surface, Tom and Sabir worked hard clearing brambles from the hedgerow GoodGymers planted a few years ago, Jana enjoyed slashing the nettles on either side of the wheelchair accessible path, while Dave, Julie, Rachel and Emma weeded the path to make it ready for flattening next week.

It was a slightly longer run from the Quaker Centre to this task - 3.5km - but great to get back to this site and hopefully we’ll return again this summer to lend a hand to the volunteers that manage this space so brilliantly day-to-day.

The less than clement weather this evening didn't stop 8 intrepid GoodGymers from donning their cagoules and heading over to Surbiton Library for some extreme gardening. The task was to empty out two ivy root filled planters to enable them to be refilled with cleaner soil ready for planting.

What a wash out! The weather was stormy from the get go with lightning in the distance and heavy rain starting soon after we arrived. We were even treated to a bit of hail too! This was just a mere distraction (kind of) to us GoodGymers as we set to the heavy work of emptying the beds. Mattoxes and shovels flying all around, we managed to fill four big ton bags with waste and were thankful of the run home to warm up!

A big congrats to Marie-Noelle who was celebrating her 50th good deed this evening - amazing work!

It felt like winter rather than the start of spring as a few hardy souls braved the rain to help out at one of our semi-regular tasks at Kingsgate Church’s student foodbank.

Sarah had a few things on the agenda for us and Emma, Emily and Jade were quickly away with cleaning fridges and storage areas on one of the church’s many levels.

Dave and Tom spent the session assembling a new set of shelves, completion of which they were definitely more impressed by than others, while Beth and Rachel organised and checked best-before dates of new products that had been donated.

Everyone chipped in for the final effort of lifting new trays of donations into position, including perhaps the largest collection of tinned peas in existence anywhere in the world!

On a pretty miserable evening, our presence was very much appreciated in what turned out to be a good fun task.

Great to support Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean today with a litter pick in Canbury Gardens. The sun unexpectedly shone down on six GoodGymers, as we met at the bandstand and armed ourselves with gloves, bin bags (held open in nifty hoops!) and pickers! We were pleased to see the park and tow path along the Thames, remarkably clear of litter - well done park visitors - but were still able to make a difference filling three bin bags with plastic bottles, polystyrene, paint pots and wrappers. Emily, Melissa, Sabir, Gemma, Rachel and Emma can now reward themselves with an Easter egg or two for a job well done!