Tonight’s GoodGym adventure took our group in two directions - to Canbury Community Gardens and Latchmere Park.

The Latchmere Park task was quite straightforward - fill 5 planters with compost. Just a small matter that the compost was in 3 1/2 ton sacks about 100m away from the planters! Emily, Ken, Laura, Petra and Dave donned their gloves and proceeded to fill and empty countless wheelbarrows. the time flew and the task completed with 5 mins to spare. Off to the pub!

Slightly more involved at Canbury Gardens with compost to turn, an elderflower tree to tackle, watering to do and gardening to squeeze in before darkness descended.

Claire kicked things off with an excellent briefing, particularly impressive given the jet lag from her recent trip to Korea! Rachel then provided an unexpected highlight by confidently picking up one of the resident chickens. Despite never having held a chicken before, she looked like a natural, comparing it to picking up her three-legged cat. The chicken seemed perfectly content! 🐔

Luke, Saber and Jonathan got stuck into turning the compost, while also attempting to secretly sign Rachel’s birthday card without her noticing.

Meanwhile, Jana and Marie-Noëlle gave the dead elderflower tree a giant haircut. Marie-Noëlle wielded the enormous loppers on the larger branches, carefully avoiding the tomatoes below, while Jana tackled the smaller ones. Saber later took over with a saw and ended up up the tree, prompting a few concerned looks as we watched his balancing act! 🌳😂

Claire tracked down the wheelbarrows and collected water from the river with Rachel, who later became our human lighting department as daylight disappeared.

Jana then tackled one final job, digging a hole for a donated berry bush, which we just about managed to get planted and watered before darkness took over. 🌱

With everything wrapped up, Claire entertained us with tales from Korea.

Compost turned, tree dramatically restyled, water collected, bush planted, chicken cuddled and birthday card covertly signed, another productive and slightly chaotic GoodGym evening! 💪🌿🐔

A small but mighty team of five headed to Surplus Food Hub in New Malden, and with plenty to get through in just an hour, we wasted no time getting stuck in!

Dave and Marcos tackled the biggest job first: emptying the fridge container ready for a thorough jet wash. This involved some serious heavy lifting, shifting crate after crate of bananas, cabbages and other vegetables, alongside dry and tinned foods. Once everything was safely stacked outside, they jet-washed the inside of the container before sweeping and hosing down the area outside too.

Meanwhile, Anna and Jana got busy in the café and food-preparation areas. Surfaces were given such a thorough clean that a member of staff commented that she hadn't even realised the kitchen worktops sparkled until we had them glistening again! We also swept and mopped the café floor and the food-preparation area.

Keeping everything running smoothly was our team lead Rachel, who took on the role of project manager for the evening. She kept an eye on progress, made sure everyone stayed on task and pitched in with jobs where needed. Most importantly, when it came to restacking the fridge, Rachel had the photo showing exactly where everything belonged and expertly directed operations.

For the final push, it was all hands on crates. We formed a human chain and got the boxes back into the fridge, with Rachel directing where everything needed to go. Despite the amount of lifting and cleaning involved, teamwork meant we got the whole lot finished within our allotted hour.

Five GoodGymers, one hour, a sparkling café, a freshly jet-washed fridge container and a whole lot of crates shifted!

Fantastic work, team – we really did produce the goods! 🥔🥬💪

It was a hot and sweaty evening, but that didn't stop an incredible team effort as we helped Voices of Hope prepare for their move into Kingston Library. We wasted no time getting started, splitting into teams as soon as we arrived. Dave, Luke, Marcos, John, Jana, Sabir and newcomer Hannah took on the heavy lifting, carrying desks, cabinets, pinboards and other bulky furniture down flights of stairs and into the waiting skip.

Another team tackled a ground-floor room packed from floor to ceiling. We uncovered everything from children's books, stickers and umbrellas to an old projector screen, mountains of shredded paper, a coat stand and even a monkey face cut-out board, which naturally became the star of our group photo later!

It quickly became clear that the fastest approach was a human chain. Claire, Anna and Emily kept everything moving, with paper sorted for recycling while the rest of us passed item after item towards the skip.

Outside, John soon earned the title of "King of the Skip", climbing aboard to pack everything in while Dave joined him to make the most of every inch of space. By halfway through, the skip was already nearly full.

Louise kept us organised, directing what needed clearing next, while cardboard was flattened and everyone pitched in. After a quick water break to admire how much we'd achieved, we tackled one final room full of heavy boxes, discovering a fascinating old book filled with historic photographs of Kingston Library that may even be of interest to the museum.

As the last items disappeared, Sekar swept whilst Anna vacuumed and Louise, Hannah and Marcos helped pick up the many small paper pieces off the floor. Nikita kept the human chain flowing of the last few bits to the skip. Hannah even rescued a few children's books for her classroom.

In just one hour we'd filled a skip, emptied multiple rooms and left the building ready for Voices of Hope to move into their new home. We celebrated with chocolate bars, plenty of smiles and a brilliant group photo—some of us perched on the skip, others pulling faces through the monkey cut-out.

A fantastic evening of teamwork and an amazing amount achieved in just one hour! 💚

Three GoodGymers, Jana, Emily and Marie – met at Raleigh House, New Malden, and got straight to work giving the outdoor space some much-needed TLC.

Emily and Jana started by tackling the weeds on the patio, while Marie arrived shortly afterwards and immediately got stuck in clearing weeds from between the paving stones. Jana then turned her attention to the flower beds, pulling out plenty of persistent bindweed to help tidy the borders.

With everyone working hard, the hour flew by, and we left the patio and flower beds looking much neater. Now all that's needed is some much-needed rain after the recent hot weather to help the plants recover!

To round off the task, Jana brought some refreshing watermelon to share, while Emily treated us to some fizzy refreshments. We hope the Stay Well residents enjoy spending time in their tidier outdoor space!