Over the weekend, in aid of world clean up day 5 goodgymers did their bit by picking up rubbish in their local streets, gardens or public places. Cans, bottles, plastics etc to make these areas look more appealing.

There’s nothing quite like a therapeutic group session to wind down at the end of the day, and our long-overdue return to Full Cycle delivered just that. It had been far too long since our last visit, and the workshop was definitely in need of a little GoodGym magic!

With a well-versed team of regulars, we divided and conquered. While one group got to work recycling the mountain of inner tubes, others found a peaceful flow sorting through tyres - there was something surprisingly meditative about turning all that rubber chaos into neat, organised piles.

The team breezed through the heavy lifting, cleaned up a selection of bikes, and sorted through the cardboard recycling. With time to spare, we grabbed brooms and brushes to clear behind the desk and sweep the workshop floor, leaving the entire space spotless and free of debris.

Massive well done, everyone - we wheely smashed through the jobs!

Today I met Dani to make a start on spreading all of the woodchip that had been delivered. We made a dent and covered some ground, ready for next time.

Sabir went back to Canbury Community Gardens and sorted all the branches that he had chopped down on Tuesday. Great work, Sabir!

Today, Levita and I headed down to a Meet and Greet event with Kingston’s local Councillors and a ton of brilliant voluntary groups from across the borough. It was the perfect chance to get out there and chat about all the ways GoodGym can lend a hand to organisations doing amazing work in our community!

It was great to catch up with some of our long-standing partners. Always a treat to see the familiar faces at Staywell, Kingsgate Food Pantry, KVA’s Surplus to Supper Hub, Save the World, and Refugee Action Kingston.

We also got to mingle with plenty of new groups to brainstorm future team-ups and hand out leaflets. We connected with:

• Kingston Association for the Blind
• The London Buddy Scheme
• Learn English at Home (LEAH)
• Kingston Carers Network
• The Kingston Society
• Malarum Ithayangal CIC Tamil Women’s Community Group
• Balance Support CIO
• Kingston Voluntary Action (KVA)
• Shine Bright UK
• Kingston Eco-Op
• Superhighways
• Connected Kingston
• Kingston Community Football

Whether we were convincing folks to lace up their trainers and join us for a run, or finding new ways our volunteers can help out local residents, it was such an inspiring day!

This evening we met at Mrs T's after having walked ( myself) and cycled (JP) where we carried many items from the garden around to her driveway for collection as the items were not needed [ this included a firepit, barbecue, outside storage box, bike ] . Also we then moved things to keep to be stacked neatly so that we could clear up all the debris from the tree that was causing distress. Mrs T was so pleased and couldn't thank as enough and couldn't believe the transformation. it obviously meant a lot. She mentioned that this was the longest time she had stayed out there for a few years, she had decided to stay out with us, chatting and holding bags open for the tree rubbish.