14 GoodGymers turned out for the first Wednesday night session of the year to help the wonderful Green Skills Library. Kudos to Jess for leading a group to run from the Community Centre to get to the task. It was great to welcome Monnish for his first ever task and Sinead for her second. We were met by our Taskowner Donna who led us down into the old Smokeys Nightclub. It evoked some good memories for some! One group sorted the donated fabrics into types, so that they can be re-used in community projects. We came across some fabulous and interesting fabrics. One person's rags is another person's riches, and Donna is certainly determined to use the riches stored in that room for the good of the community. Another group sorted the stationery, creating order from chaos. The hour just flew by, and great progress was made. Thanks to Amy for the impromptu arm press-up session to help warm everyone up

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 😇

Kudos to all the GoodGymers who went out and collected litter in their neighbourhoods or where they are on holiday. The streets are cleaner and you burnt off some of the Christmas food and drink - win win!

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!

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. 

Shift 3 of the Lantern Parade felt like a breeze! Angela and Jess stayed back from the previous shift to help (thank you!).

The seven of us working alongside the Norden Farm staff and other volunteers, made light work of the post-event clean up. After reclaiming lantern sticks from the public, we grouped them into batches of 10 per their colour. These were efficiently taped together and transferred to the library side of the road where a van was parked to load 'em up. We also helped gather discarded lanterns, remove signs from lampposts and Anne-Laure even did some heavy lifting to help the Stage crew.

Everyone - including task owner Kayleigh - was surprised at how fast things got done. The new high-vis vests courtesy Viv, got a good outing (and photographing) and we all walked away satisfied and happy to have been part of this joyful annual event once again!

One of our favourite events in the GoodGym calendar, and the turnout of GoodGymers did not disappoint. Sheila and Georgeta stayed on after the set-up shift, joined by Frances who so enjoyed her first GoodGym mission that she returned 2 seconds later for her second! We were also joined by Jess, Angela, Roberta and Diya, and after a briefing by our taskowner we went to our assigned spots. We handed out lanterns to the excited children, switching on their lights, and handing out the spares to anyone else who wanted them And then the parade was off to the sounds of the Beatroot Drummers at the front and the Bollywood Brass Band at the back. We were dazzled by the ladies on stilts and the hundreds of animal lanterns. Its such a joyous event, put on by Norden Farm for the community. They are so grateful for the support from GoodGym, and we are grateful to them for putting it on for us!