An ode to GoodGym by Nicola and Amy who took inspiration from Coldplay at Glastonbury

Look at those (GoodGym) stars Look how they shine for you With lots of jobs to do Like painting blocks yellow They came along And brought a dog for you Had lots of things to do Like painting blocks all yellow

Instead of being at Glasto, 8 GoodGym hero’s rocked up to Holyport FC where we set up camp and started on the long list of tasks

Amy was on the main pyramid stage painting her yellow brick road (steps) while others started on the blocks

Tony was in his element with a wide choice of gardening equipment, and proceeded to the Other stage where he strimmed his way round all areas in need of a good tidy up

The remaining GoodGymers took the legends slot and spent their time cutting back overgrown hedges and taking an abundance of grass cuttings from behind the goal area, depositing them in the earmarked area

Snacks a plenty were provided and once everything had been tidied up, we made our way back home to put our feet up. Until next time!

This evening we took our Wednesday club (aka the Maidenhead GoodGym group run) to the Mencap Society's Wednesday club to help with some gardening.

We met up at our home from home, the Maidenhead Community Centre, which is only a short walk from Highview Centre, the home of not only Mencap, but also the Alzheimer's Society and other community organisations.

Sheila led the majority of the group, who were walking, and I was joined by runners Adam and Jess. We did a warm up and a lap of Kidwells before chasing after the walkers. With tired legs following Endure 24 I'm sorry to say we didn't catch them!

When we arrived at Highview Centre the walkers had already been greeted by task owner Colin and members of the Wednesday Club and they were getting stuck into the task - cutting back overgrown shrubs, pulling up weeds and battling brambles in the back garden.

I nipped out to find Ben, who had opted to meet us at the task, and even in the short time I was out the gardeners made great progress.

Ben joined Adam working in the front garden and they did an amazing job cutting things back and clearing weeds, including loads of bindweed.

This was the first time we've helped at Highview during a Mencap Wednesday club session and it was lovely to see the venue in use and to meet some of the members. There was a real buzz in the room as the members played games, did crafts and enjoyed a disco.

It was a lovely sociable evening, catching up with old friends and welcoming back newer members Caroline and Viv. While we worked we were treated to delicious home made Victoria sponge and cups of tea. We will be sure to return soon, as we have been invited to help paint 6 benches. Can't wait!

What a joyful sight to see so many red GoodGym t-shirts gathering for our group run/walk last night, and it was wonderful to be able to welcome newcomers Kay, Viv and Bernd.

It was a beautiful evening for our short walk or run along the pretty Thames tow path. 8 walkers set off first, with Nicola taking the lead. I warmed up and launched 4 runners with navigator Gillian at the helm, and then brought up the rear with 2 more walkers. We chatted about camping and it all felt very wholesome!

As well as the sea of red t-shirts, we were dressed in long sleeves and trousers, and Tony even had some special pirate boots, ready to venture into the nettley undergrowth and overgrowth at the South East corner of Battlemead Common.

Our task for the evening was to pull up more invasive Himalayan Balsam, which threatens native biodiversity if left unchecked, and seems to be getting taller by the minute! We know from previous sessions that this can be a hugely satisfying task, as the roots come up really easily.

Angela spoke for everyone when she said, 'This is my kind of weeding!'

Short roots, minimal bending down, and a saitsifying crunching noise as you walk (or jump if you're Nicola or Diya) on the defeated stems piled on the ground.

Battlemead seems an apt name for this area as it does feel like we are engaged in battle - albeit the jolliest, least lethal battle ever. We pushed forward on multiple fronts and gained much ground.

We also had one wounded soldier as Claire got a face full of nettles not once but twice! She was very brave and said a cup of tea and bed would sort her out.

We mustn't rest on our laurels. The enemy is growing stronger week by week. We found one plant already in flower. It had lovely, pink, sweet-pea like bells, whose prettiness is what got us into this mess in the first place, back when the Victorians introduced the plant to British gardens in 1839. (NB these are not the pretty pink flowers pictured with Juli. They are perennial sweetpeas, which are growing along the tow path and are not the enemy!)

We need to prevent the plant from flowering because according to the RHS, each flowering plant can produce up to 800 seeds. These can then be dispersed widely as the ripe seedpods shoot their missiles up to 7m away. If the seeds get into waterways then they can quickly spread even further. If any Taskforce members would like to list more balsam-battling sessions then that would be brilliant. There is still time to win at Battlemead!

Thanks to Yesim and Diya for photos.

9 litter picking fanatics met at Maidenhead Community Centre to embark on their evening's task.

After a swift briefing, and a reminder not to eat, drink or lick anything picked up, the team collected litter picks and bags and made their way into Kidwells Park.

The team spread out across the park, one group headed to the underpass and the car park opposite as Adam and Jen had keenly spotted litter in that area on their way to the meet point. The other group stayed in the park and beat the boundaries snaffling the litter up as they went. Jack also spent some time cleaning up some graffiti on benches and bins in the park.

After an hour the team migrated back to the community centre to compare hauls. Although we were pleased with the amount we had done, it was sad to see how much we could collect in a relatively short amount of time.

Juli even managed to collect another bag load on her walk home!

A lovely, relaxing evening spent with fabulous Goodgymmers - well done everyone!

Thanks to everyone who joined in our group run yesterday evening to help Nature's Haven, and a very warm welcome to newcomer Caroline. Big thanks to Tony for this evening;s report:

A small Windsor and Maidenhead council grant to the Nature's Haven and the Community Centre on Marlow Road is being used to plant a dwarf orchard and enhance the front of the building.

Before work got underway to clear the area for planting the Good Gym crew were able to start the evening with some fiitness first. With so many Good Gymers we used the Zebra crossing to access the Cresent, this resulted in an instant Google map worthy traffic jam, red of course.

With Amy leading from the other side of the road there was much leg waving, arm flinging, and some runs up the hill, dim street lighting ensured that personal best times were won by not necessarily getting to the top.

Then the digging and cutting started most people got bushed by the bushes, and stuck in the ivy, unfortunately the ‘wild boar rent a digging app’ was down so we had to do all the work not just MBWA. Eventually the triffids size stumps were overcome to leave vast creators of good planting soil.

Soon it was time to enjoy some fire pit moments with hot drinks and giant marshmallows so big that they caught fire really easily. Skill and pan ash was needed to stop them being charcoaled.

We understand that the Community Centre are currently looking for a press and some barrels...

MBWA (Management by Walking About )