GG helped to clean up a concealed camp that was left behind in the middle of Petersham Common. The belongings were well concealed, wrapped in chicken mesh wiring and covered in tarp sheets. These items have clearly been there for some time, as a lot of the clothing and books were already disintegrated. After cutting through the wiring, we quickly filled up numerous bags with books, cd’s, dvd’s and other smaller items. We also did a general litter picking around the area and then closed off the Saturday task.

Joanna, Sam and Anita were channeling Aquarius the water-carrier (Zodiac sign for those born 20 Jan to 19 Feb) rather than the 1960s hippie musical.

When Joanna, new to GoodGym’s gardening work in Buccleuch Gardens, asked the question ‘Where’s the water?’ she may have been expecting a tap or standpipe rather than the huge River Thames.

This was a humorous start to an intense 45 minute workout. We drew water from the river , carried it up stairs (looking fantastic after Monday’s Group Run weeding efforts) and along the Thames Path to water some of the thirstiest plants at the Three Pigeons Plot, around the benches and in the Arcade Planters and Rockery .

Great work water-bearers.

A wonderful evening to be by the picture-perfect riverside in Richmond as we headed to Petersham & Ham Sea Scouts to continue work on the driveway. The driveway sees a lot of action at this very popular scout base. Over time the cars that pass over it have created holes where puddles form so it was our job to help fill them in!

This was a real all-body workout with shoveling sand mix, wheelbarrowing it around, pick axeing the compacted ground, drilling drainage holes and carrying equipment.

All this was accompanied by a 5km round trip run by the river where our red t-shirts caught the eye of many locals who shared a 'hello' or a 'thank you'. We even had three people run alongside us for a section, in sliders!

We are back at the Sea Scouts this Saturday and next Monday, https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/helping-to-lay-a-path-at-the-sea-scouts-hq-5b739871-f0b8-479d-bd34-2438ea6df5b9