Best-laid plans often go awry... and tonight was one of these times. Our resilient leader Rachel had organised two tasks for the evening (as our little group is not so little anymore!) but alas one fell through at the last minute so all 13 of us ended up together at Claremont Gardens in Surbiton. Fortunately the task here was big enough to take us all and then some.

We all congregated by the dried up pond in Claremont Gardens and task owner Georgina explained that the pond needed to be stripped back of rubbish, sticks, logs and dead/unnecessary reeds so that it could be filled up again. The liner had unfortunately failed which meant, even after all the rain fall of 2026 so far, the pond was mostly dry.

Many hands really were needed for this task as there was a whole load to do. Sticks and logs were collected from the pond bed and turned into a bug hotel up on the bank; reeds were pulled up from the driest parts; Dead vegetation was removed; huge clumps of reed roots were extracted and swathes of grass were dug up, roots and all. We found a few of our amphibious friends along the way and made sure that they hopped off to a safe spot.

The hour flew by and we made great progress. The next step is to fill the pond and hope that our work means that the water holds this time! There's plenty more work to do in and around the pond so hopefully we'll be back to check it out again sometime soon.

It was time to get in the festival spirit with a record number of GoodGymers running, walking and cycling to the British Heart Foundation.

With 18 GoodGymers we split into two teams; one on a festival themed window display and another on dining room tables.

The festival team were all about colour and fun. Shelving units were shifted and filled with tents and sleeping bags, a guitar wall was created, a pink BBQ was assembled and a swinging chair was given a good swing test. A few animals even found their way to the party to complete the display.

The second squad was the ultimate dream team of practical pros! Featuring the powerhouse lineup of Laura, Marcos, Manasa, Jonathan, Anna, JP and Sam. This group turned 'flat-pack frustration' into a total breeze.

The team channeled their inner engineers to fix and assemble table legs with surgical precision. Using pure Goodgym muscle, they hauled a fleet of tables and chairs out of storage and onto the shop floor. In record time, the empty floor space went from 'blank canvas' to 'ready for business' thanks to their hustle.

And as every festival needs a crowd we all squeezed into our mini festival for a group pic.

We had a whopping number of 13 Goodgymers cleaning out the KVA’s Surplus to Supper Hub so we split up into three groups.

Group 1 had John, Tom, Saber and Dave who washed the van and cleaned out the industrial fridge. Firstly, John, Tom and Dave sponged it down with warm soapy water and then Saber put his shooting skills to the test with the pressure washer. Then, they attempted to clean the fridge by taking all the crates out so the floor was clear and ready to be washed. However, they realised the hose was too short and couldn't reach inside! Oh no, better luck next time guys! This still made a great workout with all the washing and lifting! 💪

Next, we had group 2 with Emily, Amy W and Marcos cleaning the kitchen. Making sure the sink area and cooking equipment were all sanitised down, wiped and moped the floor until sparkling clean and mud-free!

Lastly, we had group 3 with the slightly hardest job of the night… Louise, Claire, Luke, Anna, Jonathan and Rachel were entrusted to reducing, sorting and moving crates of non-edible items (e.g beauty products, mother and baby small items, clothes and event decorations) to a small pantry cupboard. It was very much like playing a few rounds of Tetris!

Aside from that, we all finished the tasks that we set up to do. Great job everyone, see you all next time!