Valentine's Day is fast approaching and our task on a chilly and wet Tuesday was to produce a window display for the British Heart Foundation's shop.

The boys in our group were feeling pretty exposed and clueless so we left it to the girls to formulate an idea.

Step forward Levita, Laurel, Claire, Rachel, Jana and Anna to mastermind a design which attracted admirers almost immediately.

Jonathan, Tom, Luke, and Sabir helped bring down mannequins to be dressed in wedding finery, while Dave and Claire and others painstakingly cut out and stuck eye-catching hearts on the window. Flowers appeared by the bucketload, rugs were carried across the shop floor and it ended up looking pretty amazing.

A really fun evening ended with our social at The Albion, where Six Nation burgers are well recommended.

Giving blood (or in my case, Plasma) always gives you an enormous sense of wellbeing. Plus the biscuits are pretty good too :)

Helping local charity shops with preloved items and buying a few things whilst there. Finding something nice to purchase.

This morning 5 goodgymers arrived at Kingston Cemetery for a spot of bramble clearing. Armed with loppers and rakes we chopped back as much as we could to make a clearer space for visitors. The brambles we prickly and we had to take care to avoid getting stuck! An hour soon whizzed by in the winter sunshine and we piled up the clippings and left to complete a few more kms for the January challenge.

Throughout the day 14 good goodgymers from different areas dropped items for the food bank.

This evening’s one-hour task at Grow Baby was all about teamwork, speed and a very effective human chain.

Our crew — Dave, Rachel, Farzeen, Emily, Raquel, Anna, Jana and Laura — helped move bags of sorted clothing that had been rejected from donations and prepared for recycling. The mission: shift them from the basement up to the first floor, ready for collection tomorrow.

With Dave stationed on the stairs and the rest of the team forming a slick human chain, bags were hooped, passed and stacked at impressive speed. Farzeen also multitasked by donating and carefully sorting her own children’s clothes onto the rail, while Jana kept count of the bags.

The result? 72 bags moved in just 20 minutes.

With time left over, we caught our breath, chatted about January Challenge mileage, and admired a job very well done. A brilliant effort for Grow Baby, a charity providing vital clothing and equipment to families with babies and young children.

Another great task see you next time 💪♻️