What a fabulous evening! Running, walking, weeding, chatting, new faces, old friends, beautiful light as the sun went down, a lovely lake-side setting, weeds that were satisfyingly easy to yank up, and the icing on the carrot cake was the opportunity to celebrate Juli's 50th good deed - hurrah!

Juli has not just ticked off 50 GoodGym good deeds in the past year, she has also worked really hard at every session she has attended. She is often the person we have to drag away at the end because she wants to pick up just one more piece of litter or pull up just one more weed. She has taught lots of us a thing or two about gardening, welcomed lots of new members, and led and photographed community missions and social runs as a Taskforce member.

She has also thrown herself enthusiastically into all the Lockdown running challenges and games, and inspires us all by running and walking A LOT and even winning various races. Not to mention she brings us home-grown beans!

Juli is a superstar GoodGymer so it was only fitting that a great big group would come out this evening to celebrate her milestone. Many hands made light work of the weeding, which was just as well, because we had a medal to present and cake to eat! A huge thank you to Georgeta for making the stunning and utterly delicious carrot cake, and for presenting it so beautifully with all the plates and forks we would need to dive in straight away. Thank you also to Sophie and fotodrop creations, who crafted the fabulous cake topper.

As well as celebrating Juli's achievements and welcoming lots of people back from holidays, it was also great to meet new members Karen and Nicola, and to see Carina returning for her second good deed. Hope to see you all again soon!

And finally, wowzers did you see that Hawk Moth caterpillar!? Thanks to Karen for identifying it. What an amazing little (but mind-bogglingly gigantic) creature!

Do keep an eye on the listings for a return to the Thames Hospice. We hope to be back for more weeding soon. We might even go for more cake too, having learned that there is a lovely cafe on site open 8am-7pm every day. Yum!