Mr R is pretty much bed bound and finds it very difficult getting around his home. His garden had become overgrown and hadn’t been tended to in over a year.

Today was a beautifully sunny strike day in London. I met the referrer, Bradley, at Mr R’s house and we headed round the back to be met with a jungle on the lawn.

We decided to jump right in and tackle some of the big weeds before getting the electric lawnmower set up.

As we were picking some of the behemoths we spotted a bit of a distressing sight lying in the corner of the garden - a recently deceased fox in his final resting place. It must have been a recent passing as Bradley mentioned he saw a fox in the garden in the morning and it hadn’t run away from him, maybe indicating it was not far gone at that point.

Brad got on the phone with the council and they can only collect the poor guy if he was left in a black bin bag in front of the house.

Wanting to do right by Mr Fox, in the most dignified way possible I used a shovel to pick up his body and slid him into a makeshift body bag (double wrapped black bin liner) and left him out front for the council to collect.

After saying a few words and prayers, we hooked up the mower and started chopping away at the rest of the lawn.

Within no time the jungle had been tamed. We uncovered some bird feeders and a bird bath that we set back up again, and set out some chairs for Mr R to sit out in the sun on.

After filling a whole garden waste bin with cuttings, the job was done. Mr R was left with a garden he can enjoy again, and Mr Fox was left with a dignified send off.

Three happy Goodgymmers (Lily, Sarah and Sevan) braved the howling winds and spent a solid hour and a half clearing, cleaning and organising the outdoor toy shed at Walthamstow Toy Library, in the hope that preparation for warmer climes might lure back the spring sunshine! The task looked a little daunting at first glance, but we tackled it admirably with all hands on deck, together with Mel from the Toy Library who was standing in for Helen this evening. Buckets, spades, rakes and water toys were organised, footballs gathered into boxes and stacked on shelves in the shed, while rocking horses, scooters and pedal cars were stationed neatly outside, ready for action. Now all we need is some sunshine so that the Toy Library's lovely little customers can have some outside play time. The newly organised toy shed will certainly make all the resources on offer much easier for little hands to access. Well done GGWF - another excellent job done - and a very big thank you to Sevan, who trekked all the way from GG Ealing to give us some support - that's dedication!

Three jolly Goodgymmers went to WalthamstowToy Library this morning to join Helen and her husband John and some Toy Library volunteers, to tackle the epic task of clearing the currently defunct adventure playground, to prepare it for refurbishment. Lily got started with a big litter pick, Sarah swiftly joined in and they weeded, picked up lots of plastic and rubbish (and a dinosaur!), shifted rubble and timber, and removed all the weed-proof matting from the grounds. Later on, as if a morning of competitive Crossfit weren't enough for her, Pippa came to provide a fresh wave of energy for a lot more clearing of vegetation and removal of rubbish once the hedges had been cut. Thankfully the rain cleared up and the sun shone a little. All in all, it was a gigantic task (my back is certainly feeling it now!) and a very, very good job done. Helen was delighted with the progress made and immensely grateful for the help. The adventure playground, which will soon be repaired and ready for use, will be an incredible new addition to the Toy Library's facilities, providing a much-needed play resource for families in our local community. Well done GGWF - we did an excellent job and made a huge difference!

Three brilliant GGWF Goodgymmers (Sara, Matiyas and Lily) took part in our monthly Toy Library mission and gave Helen some much-needed help clearing out the construction toy store. As always, GGWF's organizational wizardry left Helen delighted with a job very well done. In fact, she's so pleased, that she'd love for GGWF to help with the clearing of the adventure playgroud, which has just begun. Tasks will be on Saturdays, during the day, and will be pretty physical, so get ready for a good workout! Watch this space for listings :-)

Four enthusiastic Waltham Forest Goodgymmers (Lily, Matiyas, Sara and Sarah) met at the Toy Library this evening for our first task of 2026, helping Helen with a few odd jobs she'd kindly saved for us! Matiyas proved himself to be quite the handyman with some toy and furniture repairs, while Lily, Sara and Sarah did some toy cleaning, sorted and categorised some cuddly friends for storage, and organised some lovely donations received for the SEND toy library, a fantastic new resource for our local community, which is due to open very soon. As ever, Helen was delighted to have some extra help, and it was great to get the new year started for Goodgym WF. A big welcome and well done to Matiyas and Sara who were attending their first Goodgym missions - it was lovely to have you on board!

From February, our Toy Library sessions will be on the second Thursday of each month at 6:30pm, meeting at the task. Come and join us - the more the merrier!

Four festive Goodgymmers attended the Toy Library to wield the scissors and sellotape and give a helping hand to Father Christmas, whose annual visit is imminent! As ever, Helen was HUGELY thankful for the extra hands on deck. A big thank you to John and Jacqui (GG Tower Hamlets) for coming to support GGWF, yet again - we are so grateful to have you with us. There won't be a Toy Library task for us in December, as Helen is snowed under, but we'll be back again in January, so watch this space for task listings!

(Apologies for a) the late report, and b) the stock elf photo - I sadly wasn't able to attend this month's task as I was on family nursing duties elsewhere, so no photos of the actual elves in action!)