After our first task of the morning to get us prepared for painting, and refuelled with tea and biscuits, we got to work on the painting. A transformation from off-white to white is hard to detect in photos, but it certainly looked a lot brighter in real-life!

To maximise our speed for the task, Chris used the extendable roller to get to the top of the walls, and I started along the bottom... hopefully there were no spots missed, but we'll be back again in January to do any last bits if needed!

Chris and I got to work preparing the corridor for painting, ahead of the second part of the task!

With sanding, poly filling, wiping down with sugar soap and resending, it was a lot to get through in 2 hours, but it made the painting for the second part of the day much easier!

Monday night was GoodGym Reading's last task of the year! With almost 200 good deeds across Reading completed this year, we thought we'd make things a little bit competitive and celebrate our achievements.

So, what does a chilli pepper, a santa hat and some medical gloves have in common? They were all things we found during a round litter picking bingo!

Four goodgymers, including Meg who joined for their first session, set out to find everything on our bingo cards to dispose of during our session.

Between us we managed to collect almost everything on the bingo cards, but Jess was our winner managing to find most of the items! She generously shared her prize between us, which went down as the perfect dessert after our festive burgers at Siren bar after the task!

We'll be back again for more good deeds in 2026!

Four goodgymers met in Caversham for a quick round of flyering for Thames Hospice Superstore on Richfield Avenue. If you need an outfit for the party season, its well worth checking out!

This evening we were joined by Jen who often does GoodGym in Windsor & Maidenhead and Slough areas. Jen is a seasoned pro when it comes to GoodGym, so she was dressed ready for a wet and windy evening, in the snazzy GoodGym gear!

Armed with a stack of flyers each, we made our way around the streets in central Caversham and with all four of us working together, we flew around the estate and managed to get them all through letter boxes in no time at all! Thankfully the weather wasn't as bad as we feared, apart from a few spells of cold rain!

Four GoodGymers helped at New Beginnings on Saturday morning, including Youssef who joined for his first ever GoodGym task!

With the breakfast service going ahead in the front of the building, the four us got to work behind the scenes to make the pantry neater, in date and easier to pick from!

At our last session in the pantry to get all the harvest donations on to the shelves, with more people and less new donations, we could get to work on making sure everything was neatly away in the right places and that everything was in date!

Two hours sped by, and we managed to sort out biscuits and sweets, crackers, soup in a cup, pasta (wholewheat, white and spaghetti), rice (flavoured and unflavoured), sauces, a lot of beans and pulses, tomatoes, potatoes and veg!

With all of that done today, we went our separate ways, knowing we'd done our little bit to help this great community organisation!

This week's run report was written by AI! With Jess' upskilling on AI the topic of the night, here's what it thought we did, given the prompt 'Write me 3 paragraphs on litter picking in Reading, UK. There were 4 people and we collected 7 bags of rubbish'

A small but determined group of four volunteers came together in Reading, UK, to tackle the growing issue of litter in their local area. Armed with gloves, grabbers, and plenty of enthusiasm, they set out to make a visible difference to the streets and green spaces. Despite the chilly weather, the team worked steadily, focusing on hotspots where rubbish often accumulates, such as pathways, roadside verges, and near bus stops.

By the end of the session, the group had collected an impressive seven bags of rubbish. The haul included everything from discarded cans and bottles to food wrappers and other everyday waste. Each bag represented not just cleaner surroundings, but also a step toward encouraging others to take pride in their community. The volunteers noted how quickly litter can build up, but also how satisfying it is to see the immediate impact of their efforts.

Beyond the physical clean‑up, the activity carried a deeper message: community action matters. The four participants demonstrated that even a small team can make a meaningful difference when they work together. Their litter‑picking in Reading wasn’t just about removing rubbish — it was about fostering civic responsibility, raising awareness, and inspiring others to join future efforts. With seven bags cleared in just one outing, they proved that collective action can transform public spaces into cleaner, more welcoming environments.

While AI might not do a bad job of report writing, GoodGym is one of those things that could never be replaced by AI! Join us for our next task soon!