January's off to a flying start with plenty of GoodGymers cleaning up streets where they live, work, play. There's no dearth of litter going by the photos...

Oh well, great to see so many sign-ups; each one is making a difference. 2026 is off to a cleaner start 😇

GoodGymers from Maidenhead and surrounds signed up to do a litter pick in their areas at a time suitable to them. That's the good thing about litter picking, you can do it anywhere, anytime. The bad thing is, well, the litter!

I was so curious about how much litter I collected that I weighed it when I got home. A whopping 8.2kgs! Very satisfying. If this caught your attention, keep an eye on more litter pick listings coming in Dec and Jan.

If slightly cleaner neighbourhoods aren't enough reason to celebrate, we had a big one — Viv's 100th good deed 🥳. With some last-minute re-arrangements, a bunch of us celebrated this milestone at Rachel's home with a delicious homemade chocolate Yule log, a crafty medal by Sheila and a poem by Amy:

Back in June 2024

An Angel with the last name Shaw

Brought Viv to the Battlemead Balsam war

And there she started her good deeds score

Thus the GoodGyming seeds were sown

and with Viv’s green fingers they’ve grown and grown

Always with a smile and never a moan

She now has 100 good deeds to call her own!

She’ll do good in rain, fog, or snow

Often with faithful dog Flora in tow

Lanterns, leaves, and litter – Viv is in the know

She’ll jump on her bike and off she’ll go!

And if a pigeon should invade your local church hall

While you’re meant to be exercising with a Pilates ball

and then get trapped behind a false wall

Trust me, Viv is a good person to call

When I type hi-vis, autocorrect thinks I mean

Hi Viv, because she’s the GoodGym hi vis queen

She helps us and the logo be safe and seen

More than we otherwise would have been!

Thank you for being so awesome Viv

And for all the kindness that you give.

You make a huge difference in the place you live

Now shall we have some cake? Answer, affirmative!

An early foggy dog walk turned into a bottle litter pick up along the pyg track. Searching through the newly planted crops to pick up broken bottles too!

Great to see a big turn out of GoodGymers tonight. 12 happy volunteers met on the roof of Nicolsons Centre, a part of Maidenhead most of us had never been before. Task owner Donna led us from the back entrance to what used to be a nightclub, Smokeys. No disco lights or bars anymore, just a stripped out large space housing all kinds of materials from fabric to paints, from stationery to sewing machines! 

Our task was to organise things as best as we could. We made good progress and grouped the material lying in two rooms of Smokeys into categories such as Paints, Arts & crafts, Stationery, Fabric, Leather, Sewing, Gardening, Jars and more. From here, they will slowly be taken down to the Green Skills library to be upcycled. 

We were so efficient that there was even time for some fun with a block of stone, a chisel and hammer! Another productive, social evening and a thankful task owner. 

Viv, Sheila, Mike and myself met at the Maidenhead Town Hall and welcomed Frances to her first GoodGym deed. We were the first shift out of three GoodGym shifts today at the Norden Farm Lantern Parade. We were tasked with preparing the lanterns, attaching them to wooden sticks with batteries and wiring, ready to be connected and handed out to the children before the parade would start. The theme this year was Animals and each school made their own paper lanterns, each school featuring an animal. Anything from swans, badgers, ladybirds to cats, foxes and some other hard to identify creatures... Along with other voluteers, we made light work of that, and the lanterns were ready in no time. Next we placed some posters on lampposts, as instructed and, finally, we had a moment of respite before the public was due to arrive, and the handover to GoodGym shift 2. Good time for a cuppa and a group chat. We hope Frances has enjoyed her first GoodGym session and looking forward to seeing her on many more to come.

Sophie and Sol met for a gentle 1km jog to the task location and met the rest of the group (plus Flora the dog!) and task owner Helen by the park, after we'd admired the Christmas lights on one particular house that had really made an effort! Helen handed out litter pickers, bags and gloves and we split into small teams. Helen had specific areas in mind that were the hot spots for litter so we set to work after a short health and safety briefing. After an hour we had collected around 8-9 large bags of litter! Great job everyone we definitely made a big difference and lots of passers by were thanking us.

That's the number of letters to residents (99) and letters to local businesses (125) in Maidenhead that Sheila, Viv and myself delivered today. The letters were to advise of road closures for the imminent lanterb parade this weekend.

Luckily the rain stayed away until later in the day.