A little bit eerie, a mysterious warmth in the air, head torch lights bounding along pathways, ten heads poking about, breaking cobwebs and disappearing around corners and popping back out on the main road again... Such was our return trip to litter pick at Petersham Common. So much more had been chucked from cars in the interim that by the end, we had bulging bags that should never, ever have ended up in nature.

As the long summer of 2026 keeps on going, 8 GoodGymers gathered (after some location clarifications) at the adventure playground in Marble Hill Park for our Saturday morning mission. Brand new to the group was Andrew (Andy), while Khin was joining for the second time after Monday's long run to the mission at INS.

We were welcomed by task owner Steph (and her daughter Sophie) who explained the jobs needing to be done - weeding, litter picking, woodchip - and sand-raking and clearing up the mud kitchen.

We divvied up the tasks and got going, enjoying the unexpected warmth and sunshine for the time of year. Little Sophie kept up our spirits with her regular distribution of fruits including raspberries and blackberries.

Before long we had completed our various jobs and gathered for a group photo before heading off to enjoy a coffee.

What a bustling busy evening at INS for this week's group run! Starting with a longer run than usual, welcoming Khin for the first time as we ran through Twickenham up to the green. On arrival the group had already got going and had taken down a gazebo and almost finished sanding the handrails that needed painting. Donning aprons and gloves, we set to work with a second coat of paint on the ones we did last time, a first coat on the back area and some teamwork holding lights! That left three of us with spare hands so we set about wiping down windowsills, skirting, windows and skylights, getting rid of dead spiders, cobwebs and decorating dust from the gym! It was an amazing example of how much can happen in one session with nine sets of industrious hands at work!