Sue, Margaret, Gareth and Sheila met at Spital Cemetery for one of the regular work parties on a beautiful morning. Maggie joined a couple of other volunteers to help clear the bindweed, creeping buttercup and plantain which were trying to take over the rose bed in the garden of remembrance. Meanwhile Sue and Sheila tackled a massive rose root which had infiltrated a grave over many years, and Gareth took on some mature leylandii branches overshadowing another grave. Conditions were difficult, especially for Gareth working in a confined space, but some dogged determination showed some definite progress. The next workparty will include a Goodgym Windsor community mission on the evening of Thursday 25th July. Sign up here

6 Goodgymmers met at Spital Cemetery armed with loppers, saws and secateurs, ready to do battle with the ivy and bushes which have taken over some of the gravestones. We split into two groups, each taking on a different area. Sue, Matthew ans Scarlett cleared several graves being taken over by hawthorn. What an amazing job they did and they even found a gravestone belonging to Mr Jonathan Found. Rachel, Maggie and Sheila tackled 2 graves hidden behind yew, ivy and some nasty brambles. One gravestone belonged to 8-year old Walter Charles Seaward, who died in 1863. After clearing, these graves, we could see an ivy-covered column rising deep within the inner reaches of the undergrowth. We were able to clear some of the ivy and yew, enough to determine that it is a stone cross, but the rest will have to wait for the next session.

5 Goodgymers met with taskowner Karen and one other volunteer at Spital Cemetery. Sue had already done a recce and identified an area that needed some attention. Some Leylandii trees had totally overgrown some graves, hiding them completely from view. Matthew and Scarlett took on the area that Scarlett had been working on last time, whilst Maggie, Sue and Sheila tackled a different area. It was loppers to the fore, and before long we had cleared huge piles of branches. We uncovered several graves, which hadn't seen the light of day for quite some time. Great work, on such a warm day, and we filled 4 dumpy bags full of branches

Thursday 6:15pm is GoodGym Windsor Night! 👑🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

Tonight we were doing a double bill with not one but two acts of kindness 👏🏻 💪🏻

Helen ( who had just run the London Marathon 🏃🏻‍♀️ 👏🏻🎖️), Devon and Mandy met at The Binoy for a social run and Sue, Adam and Margaret (her debut GoodGym session 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻) met us at the task.

Then the show began …. Or was it a circus 🤣

For our first act we met our task owner Anne at Busy Buttons (St Agnes Church) and Anne kindly showed us the church garden. We de-weeded the gravel drains, broke down and moved some old wooden furniture and other rubbish to the front of the church to be collected and swept/made tidy. Devon even did a bit of guttering clearance !

After the interval (as in us hot footing to the pathway near the church with our belongings) we got to work for our second task. We had done some work here in the dark but we had not quite finished it so we did that tonight. Devon and Adam had a great technique and were very neat and precise and polished. Mandy less so 🤣 she kept getting her lines all wrong 🤣 although Helen did keep her in check. Sue and Margaret attached the brambles. We filled three bags which is amazing in the time we had.

Soon it was time for the final curtain and we took a bow, gave ourselves an huge round of applause and made our way home.

Thank you all as always Windsor GGs 👑 ♥️👏🏻