On International Rewilding Day, the Friends of Ray Mill Island hosted an all-day workparty with 40 corporate volunteers from the Active Learning Group. Goodgym were invited to come along for the afternoon session and after sampling some cake from the Handmade Cake Company and our very own star-baker Rachel, we got straight down to work. Sheila K joined the corporate volunteers clearing the over-grown paths, followed by planting up an area with ferns, Tiarella and Periwinkle. Sheila A helped our local tree expert Martin Woolner put up painted signs which had been prepared by the volunteers in the morning, labelling the trees with their name. It took a bit of trial and error to work out how to hang the signs securely without damaging the trees. After a group photocall with the Maidenhead Advertiser Sheila A then joined Rachel who had been sanding one of the picnic tables. We set to work, treating it with preservative . A lovely afternoon, in some brilliant spring sunshine, and so much was achieved with an enthusiastic group of people

Sheila, Anne-Laure and Rachel met up on a sunny afternoon to help out The Friends Of Ray Mill Island. This was an "admin day ". Tasks were as follows: 1) Lay out newly purchased plants waiting to be planted, cover with wire cages to protect from pesky squirrels!! 2) Mark up all tools with bright yellow paint. 3) Write up an inventory. 4) A special task for Sheila....using her skills to write up the Latin plant names onto wooden boards that will be displayed at a later date. This was a lovely relaxing way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon. P.S. some biscuits were consumed during this task!

4 Goodgymmers met with Friends of Raymill Island to continue with supporting them to manage the Island.

This weeks tasks were more path widening, soil sorting, dry hedging and tool labelling!

Christine, Jess and Nivi took on the tasks of path widening by digging out the extra overgrown edges and then laying logs to mark the path. Whilst removing the soil and debris from the edges, they also sorted the soil so that the 'good stuff' could be used for planting things and the rest went to compost.

Meanwhile Elizabeth was tasked with marking up the tools owned by the Friends of Raymill Island so it's clear whose they are. She then joined Shoshan to help with the dry hedging next to the river bank.

We are very proud of our results and enjoyed the sunshine today!

Six Goodgymers joined other volunteers at Ray Mill Island to continue our quest to regain the path. It was lovely to welcome Sheila to her second Goodgym session and Mike to his first! And everyone certainly got stuck in, cutting back the undergrowth which was invading the path, cutting out the roots and retrieving the soil. We felt like the Time Team, when we uncovered the original stone edging which had been buried for years and gave us a good line to excavate back to. It was great to see such great progress being made

Jess, Amy and Sheila joined several other volunteers at Ray Mill Island on a beautiful afternoon. Today's task was to cut back the undergrowth which was overgrowing the path. We set to work with spades, loppers, secateurs and shovels, loading the debris into wheelbarrows. We got several loads of beautiful earth which we can use for potting up plants. Some of the plant material will be used to build up the dry hedge and the rest went on the compost heap. So nothing went to waste. By the end of the session we had widened the path by nearly a metre, and taken several pampas grass plantlets to grow on. A lovely session and it was lovely to see so many people enjoying the Island this afternoon.

4 Goodgymers met with a small group of Friends of Ray Mill Island (including four mini Friends) for some family friendly Island TLC.

The main job of the day was to widen the main path running in front of the playground and cafe. This involved digging away the earth at the edge of the path and transferring it by wheelbarrow to the compost area. At the compost area a couple of volunteers sifted through the soil to remove roots. The mini friends enjoyed looking for the worms and transporting them in the wheel barrow to a safer place.

The path team then moved some logs and branches to mark out the new edge.

There were lots of squirrels taking an interest in our work with one particularly curious squirrel who befriended Jen and one of the mini friends.