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 Claire’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! 💪🌿🐔

Rachel, Emily and Ellie took on marshalling duties at Runfest Richmond, armed with hi-vis vests, big smiles and the very important mission of guiding runners to the top path through Canbury Gardens.

With runners coming in fast, the trio enthusiastically pointed, waved and shouted directions like seasoned professionals. Between dodging speedy runners, keeping everyone on the right track and making sure nobody accidentally wandered off for a scenic detour, the three of them brought plenty of energy and laughs to the morning. Dave joined in at the end to keep morale high.

Who knew telling people that they are 'looking strong' and to 'go for it' could be such an entertaining job?

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! 🥔🥬💪