Sunday afternoon, and four GoodGymers headed to Welling to help Discover Welling get ready for Remembrance, putting up poppies along the High Street. We were joined by two local councillors.

With Storm Boelo doing its best to blow us away, it was a bit of a battle against the elements! Each lamp post got a poppy on either side, secured with cable ties, Hopefully they'll stay put in the gale!

We also added a sprinkling of poppies to the Welling cannon, making sure it was dressed for the occasion.

A few passers-by stopped to say thank you as we worked, which was a lovely reminder of how meaningful this task is.

With the poppies in place and a good step count under our belt, we decided to try iCakes, a new artisan café and bakery, for hot drinks to warm up. There we had a lovely surprise: free waffles and ice cream from their trial menu 🧇.

What a great way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday!

Just two of us tonight, but we were ready to get our steps in and get the party started!

After meeting at Sidcup Leisure Centre, we set off on a brisk walk to spread the word about the Community Hospice’s Boogie Wonderland fundraising party night happening next month.

Weaving our way up and down driveways in nearby streets, we popped leaflets through letterboxes to get the neighbourhood in the mood for a boogie. With Halloween approaching, we came across some spook-tacular pumpkin displays on doorsteps along the way! 🎃🎃

In just under an an hour, we’d delivered every last flyer and clocked up nearly 8,500 steps over a 4km route. We might not have hit the dance floor just yet, but we certainly got moving for a good cause. That’s what GoodGym is all about - doing good and getting fit - and we hope that we've played a part in boosting ticket sales to help an wonderful local charity.

Next week we'll encounter more pumpkins when we visit Parkwood Care Home - find out more and sign up to join us here.

Lesnes Abbey Woods junior parkrun #520 was a great success, with 62 young participants and 24 volunteers coming together to enjoy the fun of running, walking and community.

Raghav and l were glad to take part as the tail walker for this event.

(Image enhanced from the original photo using Meta AI.)

When we arrived at Holy Trinity Lamorbey Primary School, Jane, the vice principal, had two fun challenges waiting for us in the school hall.

Johnny, Alice and Martin got stuck into some serious recycling activity. They carefully removed the legs from a collection of old blue plastic chairs and then screwed the seats onto reclaimed pallets, transforming the unlikely collection of materials into colourful little ‘buses’ for the children to enjoy in the playground. Who knew old chairs and pallets could have such an exciting second life?

Meanwhile, Sarah and Lisa took on a completely different task: assembling a flat-pack canopy to shelter the entrance to the school’s reception area. Sounds straightforward, right? Well, not quite! The instructions were less than helpful, and at several points we decided that what we really needed was an octopus with at least eight arms to hold all the various bits and pieces in place while we tried to screw everything together!

Despite the questionable instructions and our distinct lack of tentacles, the time absolutely flew by. Before we knew it, both jobs were done and it was time to take a couple of team photos to show off the fruits of our labour.

We never quite know what Jane has up her sleeve for our monthly visits — a spot of DIY, a creative challenge, or perhaps another job that requires more arms than we have! Why not come along next time and join the fun? Who knows what will be waiting for us when we arrive!

Using a work volunteering day, I joined regular GoodGym volunteers Caroline and Simon for a morning helping at the Community Hospice shop and warehouse in Welling.

As a first-timer, I was welcomed by Andrew, the warehouse manager, who gave me a tour and explained how the sorting process works. Donations are checked and separated into different categories including men's, women's and children's clothing, bric-a-brac and textiles. We also learned how to identify items suitable for sale and which should go into the "rags" collection, where they can still be put to good use.

Thankfully Caroline and Simon already knew exactly what they were doing, so I was able to learn the ropes quickly and get stuck in. Together we worked our way through a full cage of donations before moving on to help with some more.

It was great to see the generosity of local people, with plenty of good quality items coming through the warehouse. There always seemed to be another bag waiting to be opened, and you never quite knew what you were going to find next.

One of the highlights was discovering a set of four donated teddy bears, who kindly joined us for a team photo, along with a few interesting clothing choices that gave us a laugh while we worked.

A big thank you to Andrew and the hospice team for making me feel so welcome. It was a really enjoyable way to spend a volunteering day and a reminder of how much work goes on behind the scenes to help raise funds for such an important local charity.

Another Saturday, and another volunteering credit for Peter who is GoodGym Bexley's regular hi-vis hero at Avery Hill parkrun.

Well done Peter for being so generous with your time in our community.