On a warm evening, we made our way on foot and by bike to lend a hand in caring for the historic cedar trees at Chiswick House and Gardens.

With the lawns showing the strain of recent summer heatwaves, our task was to refresh the bases of the trees with a protective layer of woodchip.

We got into an easy rhythm of spreading and chatting and levelled two piles around the large cedar.

Just in time, Lucy arrived to lend a hand and orchestrate the all-important group photo at the end.

With the final barrow emptied it was time to head to the pub to raise a glass on the eve of Remy's birthday, and tuck into another much heralded birthday cake made by Eloise. So good Emily hot footed it across London to try some.

Happy Birthday Remy!

Off to one of our favourite locations tonight where manager Danielle always has good plans to make best use of GoodGym!

This evening we were helping to clean and put away the camping equipment from a trip to the New Forest. It's a more in-tents workout than you might imagine, getting into a collapsed tent to sweep up and then working as a team to roll the giant tent into a bag! Watch us in action here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNgluPNI-NJ/?igsh=MXZhYXNjZWJ2ZnpyNw==

More tent cleaning, some leaflet cutting and some happy group photos before running back off into the darkening evening!

...Gun!

Second Monday of the Month so Liz led GoodGym Richmond’s Group Run from the Tap Tavern out along the Thames Thames path towards our sponsored plots in Buccleuch Gardens where the main task was watering, trying to get as many plants as possible through this latest heatwave.

Liz, Anita, Honor, Sarah Jane, Africa, Suze, Adam, Harry and Steph were able to create a human chain, filling watering cans and trugs with muddy Thames water to give the Three Pigeons Plot a really good soaking. There was also time for weeding, washing-up used plant pots and taking some much needed water to the Arcade planters and around some of the benches.

Our Social afterwards was a trip to the nearby cinema to see The Naked Gun where row D was entirely GG red and the laughs distracted us (and hopefully everyone else in the cinema) from the aroma of mud, sweat and Eau de Thames.

We had perfect conditions for our return visit to Chiswick House last night, which was good news as we had a huge job to do!

The carriageway into the grounds is lined with beautiful plane trees. Fun fact - did you know London Planes can grow to 35 metres and live for several hundred years? Which means they need a bit of care and attention.

We were met with Chris, Chiswick House's gardener, who explained the job was to cut away the shoots from the trees' trunks. Or epicormic growth, if we're being fancy!

We cleared away the clippings and then got to work giving the trees a good pruning, able assisted by Chiswick House's excellent range of dog visitors.

There were some excellent techniques getting as much as humanely possible into the ton bags, and some very professional lopping on display too. Great work everybody!

Next week we're back to do one of our favourite tasks - washing the Turnham Green mural. Fingers crossed the weather is kind to us...