Roll up, Roll up.

Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages, welcome to the greatest show on earth.

Tonight under a magnificent full moon, Richmond witnessed Good Deeds that pushed the limits of human ability. As you read this run report and look at the photos, be amazed by our gravity-defying gardening, hold your breath at our fearless weeding and laugh with our hilarious clowning acrobats.

Our regular performers have given their Monday evenings to perfecting their craft. They’ve trained countless hours, pushing themselves past limits, all to create moments of pure astonishment for you. Each task completed on this cold January night told a story: a story of determination, skill, and the pursuit of excellence. From our remarkable leaf rakers and sweepers, our wonderful weeders, our compost turners, our barricade builders, to our skilled human numerals, every performer brought their special magic to Buccleuch Gardens.

Please put your hands together for our newest recruits Jade and Mike and our fabulous run leader Sam. And for regulars Monika, Suze, Anita, Rosie, Harry, Chris, Cathy and Ken. Everyone adding something special to this 'second Monday' task and each one essential to the spectacular ‘2025' finale.

Monday lunchtime solo session in Buccleuch Gardens Richmond prepping for the evening ‘second monday’ Group Run task at our sponsored plots and making the most of the daylight (and sunshine) to litter pick deep in the border.

A welcome start to 2025 group runs for GoodGym Richmond as we met at Tap Tavern to warm-up together and run the 3.5km route to The Purple Elephant Project, supporting children's mental health.

Task owner Jane met us at the centre with a great list of tasks ready for us to get stuck into in the children's play garden: clear up the leaves, reattach the privacy screening, fix up the den with astroturf underneath, re-support the bird feeder and move a gazebo to the shed. Between a team of happy and well-warmed-up helpers the tasks were all complete in 45 minutes, with a short stop for leftover Christmas chocolates and biscuits from Jane before the group ran back off past Twickenham stadium to Richmond town centre, a lovely steady 7km run.

Whilst we may have missed the 12th day of Christmas (yesterday) , Monday 6th January was Epithany and the end of all Christmas festivities so it was a good day to take down the Christmas decorations in Buccleuch Gardens.

Rather than Adoration of the Magi, this lunchtime Epithany task was about Unadorning the Arcadi.

Chris and Anita were:

stuck in a stone cold Arcade,

unravelling knots, bows, ties

and packing away the decorations ready to crown the gardens again in December 2025.