Twas the last night of GoodGym before Christmas when all through the streets of Kingston not a creature was stirring not even a mouse.

Claire, Dave and Rachel headed out to warm up before Claire and Dave headed off on a 5km run and Rachel started to make the Quaker Centre kitchen sparkle.

Returning from our run Sabir had arrived to help clean the kitchen. After giving everything a good clean and throwing away a few out of date items while we danced to some Xmas tunes we headed into the courtyard to decorate the tree.

It was a little bit of a challenge but undeterred we got the lights up and found some elastic bands to secure the baubles with. I’m sure the tree will look lovely once the solar lights are charged.

Having completed the task there was only one thing to say: “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

It was freezing, literally, and I'd had a weather warning from GoodGym HQ earlier in the week, so the group run was definitely not happening. That didn't stop us from meeting at The Quaker Centre to help out in the kitchen though. Being in the warm community space that we met at every Tuesday didn't seem like a chore more like payback for the Quaker's kindness they had showed us through the year.

Our job this week was to help clean out the kitchen. At first look it didn't look that bad - the surfaces were clear and things were neatly stacked in cupboards. Once we started to empty out the contents, we did find a few areas that needed attention. Tom and Claire started from the right, Emily in middle and Dave and Rachel on the left. It wasn't a big area so we needed to spread out otherwise we'd be bashing each other with cupboard doors.

Dave put the Christmas music on, Claire brought out her homemade mince pies and I cracked open a bottle of Baileys. What better way to start cleaning! We worked systematically and soon all the cupboards were done. We had a few minutes to spare at the end so Dave decided to tackle the fridge. We all mucked in cleaning the shelves and checking the best before dates on all the items. A few milk cartons needed to be dispensed with but nothing walked out the fridge by itself.

After the task, we chatted about Christmas plans and next year's January Challenge. Lots of fun things to look forward to!

Rachel White has always dreamt of being a superhero. But she was never content at helping out Geoff and Barbs nextdoor with their weekly shop during the pandemic, or becoming Kingstons new area activator. No, she wanted more. More power more responsibility. So one fine Tuesday afternoon whilst raking leaves out from under the bushes in the Quaker centre, with her stick and a pointing thing at the end (small rake) she finally got her wish. A non toxic, completely harmless, false widow spider bit her on the arm and Rachel White became Spiderwoman. Sadly, she has developed no extra powers though so her dream goes on. Maybe she'll still swing by Tom Holland's house though just to try the uniform on for size...

Rob was also there and witnessed no web slinging action or wall climbing abilities.

It was finally our chance to help the Quaker Centre on Tuesday - our new hub for the last few months. Dave led the warm-up in the car park and went on a 5km loop whilst Rachel ransacked the well-stocked tool shed in preparation for the night's event.

On their return the runners grabbed rakes, leaf grabbers and the wheelbarrow and we started at one end of the garden. Digging under the hedges we removed piles of leaves whilst Stephen went on a litter pick and filled a bag of plastic rubbish and other unmentionables. Tara was a dab hand at using the leaf grabber and a huge garden bag was soon filled to the brim - well done on your second GoodGym mission! Fionn was on stick duty due to a bad hand and we were all impressed by the amount that he could carry one handed. It took a few hands to lift the waste into the compost bin at the end - great arm workout, Claire.

By the end of the session we had cleared under the bushes all ready for the traditional hedge laying guy to work his magic. Unbe-leaf-able work everyone.

There will be another session at the Quaker Centre on Tuesday 22nd March at 12pm to finish off any other jobs before the hedge guy turns up the next day.