GoodGymer Claire got in touch to say that Glendale were giving away primulas that, if not taken by local groups, would be heading to the dump. I picked up 5 trays and drove them to St Paul’s School as they are started a gardening project this winter. Hopefully these pretty primulas will cheer up the beds and the kids and teachers too.

What a transformation! The before and after shots say it all. With their caretaker currently unwell, the school entrance and car park at St Paul’s CofE school had become overgrown with weeds and fast spreading ivy - even partially blocking the pedestrian entrance and street name sign. Together with Rachel, Dave and another school parent, we blitzed the area. Appearances really do matter when it’s the first thing you see arriving for a day at work or to study! The headteacher and another teacher have already been in touch to remark on the difference it’s made.

Great work by GoodGym Kingston tonight. We ran up to St Paul's School on Kingston Hill to help out as their caretaker had been off poorly. The playground and outside areas had started to get a bit tatty and they needed our help to get back on top of the jobs.

We grabbed the brushes and tools and went off to weed the playground edges that had started to get overgrown with grass and stubborn greenery. Emma went round the reception buiding and sheds while Julie and Claire went round the main building and soon made small piles of weeds ready to be swept up. Dave and Paul (a parent who offered to help as well) moved fresh compost from the car park to the trees in the reception area - giving them nutrients which will help them flourish and make shade for the smallest members of the school. Sabir got busy with the broom and helped to tidy up the leaves on the playground floor.

We were asked to empty two bins in the shape of hippos but they were locked shut so unfortunately we couldn't do that job and we also couldn't get rid of a dead, thorny bush as we needed saws to cut through the thick branches. A bit of brainstorming about the tools and protective layers we'd need mean we can offer our help another time!

Progress was quickly made and soon our hour was up and we admired the difference made in such short time. We'll be back to help with the thorny bush soon.

Well done, everyone! Fantastic effort. See you soon for another task soon.

It was a lovely fresh evening when we met up for our group run. Fortunately the big black clouds overhead didn't drop their raincloud on us and we did a lap of Fairfield recreation ground after our warm up to celebrate with Dave and Jana on their bikes as back markers. We then hit the streets and went off the main roads to the quieter suburban roads to the school.

St Paul's School is similar to many others in that funding is tight and there's not much left in the pot even for essential roof repairs. We were asked to help with preparing the walls for decorating - a job kindly done by one of the parents who is in the trade. Freddie met us there and let us know which jobs to prioritize. We sanded down the skirting boards, removed pictures from the walls and even scrubbed the lockers to get the wow effect once the paint had been applied.

With so many willing hands, Emma (our amazing new member), Tom and Liz had time to fill a bag of leaves from the playground. An hour quickly flew by and we tidied up the tools making sure to not leave any for small hands to find the next day. And then it was time to hit the streets and head back to the Quaker Centre for a warm down.

A job well done - thank you to everyone that attended. And a warm welcome to Emma - hope to see you at another task soon.

One soggy Tuesday night Kingston GoodGym would not be defeated by a bit of rain and set about a run around FairField park and up to St Paul’s School getting a damp toe or two enroute in the hidden puddles.

At the school we split into two teams with one team spending some time in the gutter clearing out lots of sludge and precisely refitting the grates. The other team swept up lots of pine needles, twigs and leaves from the last storm. We even managed to rescue a few balls from the tree.

By the time we had finished the playground looked grate and we were pining for a run back to somewhere dry.

Big shout out to Stephen who claimed that once you've cleaned a drain out in the rain then the tasks can only get better (he's not wrong). Another shout out to Fionn for skipping a couple of years for work reasons but getting stuck back in like he never left. AND the biggest shout out to lovely Kate for getting 400 good deeds tonight! That slipped under the radar... Well done - what an absolute legend! Let's celebrate next week.

See you next Tuesday for a GoodGym mission and a pint at the Albion!

Off we went to St. Paul’s

Where Rachel met us with some tools,

With a scrap and a clean

the gutters were pristine

Thanks, our Goodgym team

Time to put the gutters back in row,

So the water would flow

And the playground is less like a stream

A super task where no one came last

some walkers some runners,

what more could you ask?

• Welcome back Scott on your second run
• We also talked tonight about if you wanted to assist at the Hackney Half
• We also mentioned this great running initiative for a group called Achilles - more details can be found here
• Check out the run listings for this weekend and if you are free sign up to the Community Mission, planting trees at the Edible Forest
• Also we made St Lukes Newsletter for a great job done last week - check out the photo!