A wonderful evening to be by the picture-perfect riverside in Richmond as we headed to Petersham & Ham Sea Scouts to continue work on the driveway. The driveway sees a lot of action at this very popular scout base. Over time the cars that pass over it have created holes where puddles form so it was our job to help fill them in!

This was a real all-body workout with shoveling sand mix, wheelbarrowing it around, pick axeing the compacted ground, drilling drainage holes and carrying equipment.

All this was accompanied by a 5km round trip run by the river where our red t-shirts caught the eye of many locals who shared a 'hello' or a 'thank you'. We even had three people run alongside us for a section, in sliders!

We are back at the Sea Scouts this Saturday and next Monday, https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/helping-to-lay-a-path-at-the-sea-scouts-hq-5b739871-f0b8-479d-bd34-2438ea6df5b9

GoodGym Richmond celebrated eight years of keeping fit while doing good this evening with an epically wet run to AFC Heatham House!

This great youth club welcomed us for a special task before our social, only heavy rain meant the planner task was impossible so it was all play and no task!

Brilliant host Danielle spoiled us with a pasta dish, fruit, brownies and dips in the games room - perfect for table football, table tennis and pool.

Before an equally soggy run back to the start point at Tap Tavern, Liz shared some smashing stats for GoodGym Richmond tasks (1154 in the last year 🥳), so much to celebrate!

July should herald the start of the hottest, most sultry ‘dog days’ of summer but today was more of a ‘duck day’ with grey skies and drizzle. However our GoodGym Richmond sponsored Plots in Buccleuch Gardens are looking pretty lush thanks to the cool temperatures, the rain and tonight’s brilliant gardening work by Sam, Kate, Chris, Monica, Steph and Anita

The Monday Group Run tasks focused around The Arcade Rockery and whilst it seemed a rather laid-back mission, we achieved loads:

Dead-heading vast amounts of stachys (lambs ears) to encourage a second flowering. Building-up one of the ‘twiggy barricades’ that had sunk down(these discourage people from stomping on the beds …. and also create wildlife habitats). Relocating a huge rush and planting a Japanese anemone in its place. Weeding. Edging part of the lawn

Thanks to Sam for leading the Group Run, including back to the Tap Tavern for our monthly Social .

An unexpected Canada Day celebration this evening when task owner Ken sprung out with a flag, maple syrup and waffles!

But that's getting ahead of ourselves as the evening started with a run session at Richmond Green, welcoming first timer Steve for a warm-up and then five laps around the green. Those who wanted to added in two short sprint sections and those who didn't went for a steady pace that kept everyone pretty much together.

A very short walk from the green, we met Ken at the St Mary Magdalene war memorial for some weeding around the monument and a few dodgy looks from the pigeons who have built nests at the top!

On completion, Ken went full Canada and served up the snacks, followed by a few seconds stroll to the nearest pub! A relaxed evening altogether, just the way the Canadians are! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

A warm welcome indeed at GoodGym this evening as the sun came out and Lucy led her first session to qualify as a fitness leader. Lucy took us all through the intro and a good warm-up to prep the body for a 4km run to INS in Twickenham.

The lovely base at INS is always very grateful for our help and the mix of weather had led the garden to take on a life of its own, ready to be tamed by the red shirt gang!

Jobs included putting up the gazebo, clearing the summer house of extra furniture and many eight-legged guests, clearing the paving areas of moss and grass, sweeping, weeding, watering, putting the garden furniture out and clearing the front area. The transformation was great for that end of task feel good factor, as was the return run and the completion of Lucy's qualification, congratulations Lucy! 🎉🎉🎉