Only two GoodGymmers braved the drizzle for our new Saturday morning slot at Three Pigeons today. No matter, we placed the GGR banner out front and got to work clearing leaves from around the arcade, catching the side eye of many a passing runner who we’re sure we’ll see joining our ranks in no time.

We swept and shovelled away and soon had the place looking much tidier but with plenty left to do when we return with a full team on Monday.

A beautiful end of January task today for six happy GoodGymmers to head to Star & Garter Hill where rubbish has sadly collected in the roadside undergrowth.

Between us we collected eight bags of wrappers, pill packets, food containers, bottles, even a sandal!

Bags tied up, we headed to lovely HollyHock Cafe to start the weekend with a chat and a smile.

One GoodGymer was at Hatherop Park helping the Friends of Hatherop Park coppice some trees on another wet day in the end. The weather started out dry at first but that did not last. Me, myself and I cut away the ash trees to open the nature reserve up to some light.

One GoodGymer coppiced trees in the wet, wet, wet conditions for Friends of Hatherop Park in the forest. They are turning an abandoned bit of wasteland into a nature reserve and the stand of ash trees needs to be cut to let more diversity come in. A fair amount was done despite the rain. Time for some hot tea!

One GoodGymer came out to saw trees to improve biodiversity. Coppicing encourages new growth and light to reach the forest floor opening glades and greatly enhancing biodiversity.

It was GoodGym Richmond's monthly signature task: heading to our sponsored riverside plot to look after the grounds. We started with a warm-up stretch in Richmond town centre before setting off to the task, celebrating our progress so far in the January challenge. From there, some jogged, some walked and some cycled down the high street and along the riverside to our tool lock-up where we split into two groups: those getting straight into the task and those joining in a 15 minute fitness session. This involved squats, press-ups, standing ab crunches, lunges and some shadow boxing, all carried out by the light of headtorches and the music from Lucy's phone! The actual doing good bit was lively and energetic with a thorough sweeping of the arcade area, hefty turnover of the compost, litter picking, weeding and saving a willow support that had toppled over. The task finished with an annual tradition: making the year number ourselves. Previous versions have been hilariously illegible but it turns out headtorches make much better pens than bodies! Ken and Lucy even had an extra go at the GoodGym logo too! One final stop for the night: a nice sit down and a chat at the lovely White Cross, just along the riverside. All-round a lovely GoodGym evening that had it all - exercise, volunteering, socialising and feel good!