Thames Hospice is running a fund-raising campaign in the summer called 'Trunks Across the Thames' and they put out a call for people to make elephant-themed items which can be sold in pop-up shops. Not a typical GoodGym task, but 8 GoodGymers took on the challenge to release their creative side. And boy, did they surpass all expectations! Give them a wide brief, and it's amazing what people came up with! Jess was first out of of the blocks with some beautifully cross-stitched cards, and Hannah crafted some fantastic resin keyrings. Angela had a crafting evening making some fun felt elephants and even found some elephant bunting. Viv re-purposed some old football-themed pillowcases to make our largest contributions. Sheila tackled a variety of techniques, producing knitted and sewn soft toys, badges, and some zippered pouches made from elephant fabric scavenged from a Googym task for the Green Skills Library. Georgeta produced some beautifully mounted photographic prints of elephants she had made friends with in Indonesia. Carys brought out her artistic side with drawings of elephants and Amy made some cute origami elephants from which she made some beautifully crafted and original cards. I was so impressed with the time, enthusiasm and creativity which everyone put into the task. Jess from Thames Hospice says a huge big THANK YOU!

Well done to everyone who helped tidy their streets and parks; we've had a good run of January Friday litter picks. Feels like we could keep going though, judging by the amount of litter we all seem to find, wherever we are...

No despair though. The Power of One is not to be underestimated! We keep doing our part, things will improve!

There may be litter everywhere but these GoodGym-ers aren't willing to give up! Well done to everyone who collected bags and bags of litter off their local streets 👏

4 coal tits, 6 sparrows, 2 robins, 2 grey doves, 1 blue tit & 4 pigeons

Well done everyone for supporting nature this weekend. Remember to upload your findings to the RSPB website, when you get a moment. There's a live leaderboard; with two million birds recorded so far..... what will be the final tally?! Full results will be published in a few months time. Thank you for getting involved, I hope you enjoyed your birdwatching.

We've had an overwhelming response to the call to donate to the local FoodShare, while out running or walking or cycling! So much so that I was inspired to write a little poem... and that is big, given that last time I tried, you could say it was under duress - school homework. * Well done everyone, amazing work! * Here we go, verses are mainly mine, but ran it under ChatGPT for a bit of refinement.

• We run, we walk, We skip, we hop, With bags of goodies—plop plop plop! At the Foodshare collection point we land, Lending a very helpful hand.
• Well done to you, you GoodGym lot, Every tin and packet means a lot. People will love the food, we hope, Fuelled by kindness, carbs, and hope.
• With lovely bright pics in the report on show, For all to smile at, cheer, and know— That a jog, a snap, a small kind deed, Can help a whole community feed.

🥫🏃‍♀️💛

Hedgelaying at Battlemead Common was a quintessential GoodGym experience - outdoor, active, social and an opportunity to learn new skills. On a mild winter morning, seven GoodGymers met Braywick Rangers, WildCookham and local conservation volunteers to lay part of the wildlife hedge at Battlemead, along the Thames Path.

Today was day 2 of this activity and many present had already made a solid start yesterday. After the safety briefing, Ranger Tom gave us an introduction to hedgelaying: an ancient method to create natural barriers for wildlife and allow smaller animals to hide or travel along a safe corridor without being exposed to danger.

This is done by "pleaching" or laying down the 7 yr old trees which were planted for this purpose, making it a living structure! The trees are pleached (partially cut and bent), laid down, held in place with "weaving" the intertwining branches, held in place with stakes. Finally covered with "brash" (bush and branches which are cut away to make room to build the hedge) to prevent deer from eating berries and young shoots which will cover it soon.

So much to learn! Such a fascinating practice and fun as well!

We divided ourselves into groups: Angela, Viv, Diya and Nick tried their hand at pleaching. It was surprisingly nerve-wracking because you didn't want to be the one who cut through the whole thing killing the tree! Sheila, Kanika and Juli worked with Jane in weaving the hedge. The huge mallet for the stakes was a crowd favourite! Diya later worked with Ranger Rosie to cut branches to size and turn into stakes while Nick tried his hand at the stakes as well.

2 hours flew by and while some of us left at different times, Sheila stayed for the whole session, even recruiting Jane for GoodGym. Welcome Jane!

We'll be going back on 31st Jan/1st Feb, be sure to come along.