Seven Richmond GGers gathered at on Riverside Drive on a warm Saturday morning for our monthly mission to maintain the natural habitat of the Ham Lands for the benefit of flora, fauna and the folks who love to spend time there.

As usual Sharon was there with a group of the Friends of Ham Lands, and gave our briefing. This time, our task was to clear the area around an apple tree of brambles, and cut down a patch of sycamore suckers growing nearby.

Now GG Richmond members are not strangers to brambles and we know their ways. But this session’s enemy was up for the fight - fielding some of the longest, thickest and spikiest specimens of their number in their bid to hold their territory.

No match for us or the new tools supplied by Sharon though. We set to work, cutting swathes through the enemy and piling them up ready to be bagged and dragged to a nearby compost area.

Of course we bore the scars of the campaign, with plenty of yelps signalling another casualty in the form of a scratch to a leg or an arm left uncovered in the warm weather. But the battle scars only made us more proud of the victory. Our efforts also paid off with the discovery of a plant not seen in several years!

The sycamores put up less resistance, and will go on to serve the community by adorning a fence recently built from larger, thicker branches.

Our next session on the Ham Lands is here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/helping-the-happy-ham-landers-bd191a17-5b00-42da-ae77-5a8eed086ac4

In case you didn’t know, this week is national volunteers week, where those who give up their time for free to help others are celebrated. Although it might have been a regular Monday group run here in Richmond, we were sure to celebrate and appreciate the work we do here at GoodGym!

After a warm-up which was true to its name, we made our way down to Mortlake to meet Danielle at the Power Station Youth Centre. There are a handful of youth clubs run by Achieving for Children in the Richmond borough, and over the years GoodGym Richmond have supported these brilliant places. The team there are so grateful and appreciative of the help we have given them, and tonight was no exception.

Danielle was currently in the process of updating the gym in the youth centre. She had cleared out the equipment and the next step was to lay down new flooring. Before this could happen, the old worn foam underlay needed removing. This was where we came in…

If it wasn’t a sticky and sweaty enough day already, there was a full body work out to be had in scraping and peeling and pulling the foam flooring off. A task much harder than it looked.

Whilst most of the gang were getting their work out in the gym, a few were helping Danielle with a different exercise - building new equipment racks. A local band were playing in one of the music rooms upstairs, and were soundtracked by Stevie Wonder on the sax, but downstairs was a different kind of groove. Heavy metal, coordination and a steady eye were needed to make sure the new shelves were straight and stable (and would fit in the gym room!).

An hour later (and literal blood, sweat and tears), our time was up and we had all definitely had a real work out. Danielle thanked us as we left the youth centre, and we mustered up any strength left for a bit more cardio - the run back!

Squat a great evening - we certainly lived up to our name tonight putting the good and the gym into GoodGym. Weight to go!