Last night we had been looking forward to our next step helping create a learning area at Cavendish School but sadly the delivery of the aquatic plants we had been due to put in was delayed. However, when we got there and saw there was still several feet of murky water in the pond we were slightly less disappointed!

We have been making regular visits to the school and the area has slowly changed from an unsafe, overgrown tangle into a nice, clear garden with several new habitats for animals.

An ongoing battle has been with the blackthorn which, if left to its own devices, will take over the space and leave little room for all the big plans of the volunteer group. So while the team got on with pulling up the thorny, persistent shoots, several others got busy transporting logs from outside the garden into a corner by the pond to create a habitat for amphibians and reptiles. In the past we have seen several newts dotting about the place, and this will help create a safe and warm home for them going forward.

After making good progress we ran back to Turnham Green where we undertook a fitness challenge. The idea is that we had the A team and the B team and two different sets of exercises. The job of one team was to beat the number of reps each time, while their partner cheered them on. It was great to see the energy and effort being shown and the power of positive motivation was more than evident!

Next week we'll probably be planting bulbs but I'm just waiting for final confirmation - so watch this space!

Bethan was alone in the TRAID Shepherd’s Bush. That didn’t matter. She was happy to get her good deeds in solo or with a gang. Luckily for her, as she started to take dresses and lengha tops from their rails, she realised she had some friends to hang out with!

Opening the door she was greeted by Lucy and Emily who had arrived on bike from the Hammersmith store for part one of the TRAID double whammy tonight. Door locked, the girls got involved with clearing the racks… and then Bethan had to answer the door again. Here was Harvey, fresh from his run. And just as Bethan locked the door and went back to her good deed, the rest of the group arrived - Analiese, Divya and Jenni!

Nicely warmed up from the task just moments before at the Hammersmith branch, we got to work quickly as helping clear all the clothes from the rails. Blouses were boxed. Polo shirts put away. T-shirts tidied up.

The favourite shoe task ended up with five of us helping out here. I don’t want to sound sexist, but all the ladies were excited about pairing shoes, whereas Divya and Harvey were quite happy on rail clearing duty!

With all the shoes paired that we could, and all the clothes off the racks, the last job was to fill one last box. Divya helped the TRAID staff to tape up one last cardboard box, and the huge pile of attire was swiftly moved into it. Many hands make light work, and we were done by 7:45! GoodGym, you guys box!

It was time for the quarterly TRAID restock, and as usual GoodGym Hammersmith and Fulham were up for the task of helping clear the hangers ready for a load of new outfits to take their place. Six of West London’s finest were here to help put, although not Area Activator Cookie - he was doing a different kind of restock and replenishing after his amazing weekend feat. For those not on the know, Cookie completed the Barcelona marathon the day before. Brilliant work, and a good excuse to miss a double good deed I suppose!

Harvey, Analiese and Divya got to work on the racks straight away, each with their own technique to get the clothes on the floor. Kudos to Divya too for being the most efficient hanger collector that TRAID Hammersmith has ever seen!

At the other end of the shop, Lucy, Emily and Jenni had taken the greatest task. You know it’s a good job when not one, not two but four people say ‘I love this task for this job’! Why it was the matching shoes game. As always, there were black boots galore. As always, there were a couple of shoes gone astray not to be found until the very last minute. As always we got several big blue bags full up of pairs of trainers and pumps and plimsolls.

Back to the shop floor, the shoe gang finished up and went to help get the last of the racks emptied and the clothes piled up into the trolleys. It was almost time, and it seemed that none of us wanted to settle for just one good deed this Monday. The final skirt hit the floor (nicely done Emily) and with a great big thank you from the Hammersmith team, the six of us head off the mile or so up the road for part two of the TRAID double whammy to Shepherds Bush!

We had the BAFTAs back in March 2020 ( https://www.goodgym.org/v3/profile/anita-capewell ) but this year, this time , we were back in Beuccleuch Gardens, Richmond for the Academy Awards. All was not quiet on the Thames River Front for our 13 March 2023 ‘second Monday’ monthly group run . GoodGymers ran, walked and cycled the tarmac carpet to reach our sponsored plots in Buccleuch Gardens for a task-studded evening of gardening glamour.
A fantastic turnout meant that GoodGym Richmond were able to be ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once ‘ and in under an hour we managed to: Cover the Canarian Palm’s in front of the Arcade to protect them from Frost; Complete the leaf sweep-up at The Arcade; Sweep and Weed around and about the Three Pigeons Plot; and plant cornflower seeds. GoodGym Richmond’s Canine friends have already shown remarkable form when it comes to predicting Oscar winners ( Molly the dog was promoting The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse way back in July 2020: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/profile/anita-capewell ) and tonight’s guest star, Boots the dog, charmed her way into everyone’s hearts and is tipped for future run report fame.