Tonight Rachel, Dave and Claire headed off on a run and cycle to Searchlight Community Centre which had been the victim of a lot of Autumn leaves that had caused flooding.

We were joined at Searchlight by Vivek, Josh and Insun on their first task as well as Emily, Petra and Martel and there was plenty to keep us all busy.

The leaves had built up on a bank against the football ground and were at risk of blowing around and blocking the drains again so we all got to work clearing the leaves and very spiky brambles.

Josh and Insun started at one end filling multiple sacks with leaves and expertly quashing them in the bags, Claire, Petra and Emily raked down the leaves in the middle and fought with a few brambles and wipe filling a few more sacks and Martel, Rachel, Dave and Vivek tackled some tough brambles and yet again more leaves down the end of the plot.

After multiple trips to the compost heap Martel could not be-leaf the difference and that we had cleared such a large area.

Congratulations Vivek, Josh and Insun on your first task we hope to see you at another one soon.

Last night our group run took us to Growbaby. We met at the Quaker Centre for a catch up and then headed for Fairfield Park for a warm up. We certainly saw the sights on our way round as we came across a heron which was an unexpected treat.

At Growbaby we had a list of jobs that needed to be done and being a small environment we split into three groups so there was a working party in each room. Emma, Sabir and Jorge stayed upstairs to sort out the bookcase and the kitchen. Emma squealed with delight when she saw the drawers and the cupboard under the sink and went straight to work removing duplicate products and throwing. Sabir and Jorge sat down with a book or two to discuss the literary merits of writing for children.

Claire, Jana and Jade went into the first room in the basement and mended the hanging rail. The bottom rail had slipped on one side meaning that half the clothes were draped on the floor. The coats were organised and hung in size order with any broken or dirty items removed - and the same was done with the dresses.

Dave, Tom and Adam went into the second basement room and moved the shelves holding the equipment. Once the big move around had been completed they got stuck into the toy boxes and played, I mean sorted out, the action men. What nostalgic fun!

On the run to the Albion for our monthly social we saw a heron! Was it the same one? Who knows but it was another unexpected treat.

Well done to everyone that came to help at Growbaby! It's made a massive difference to the running of the hub and will help local families in need.

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.

Our Tuesday group run started at The Lamb pub in Surbiton - even though it was up hill to the task, it made the distance more manageable by changing the start point to a closer point. Claire, Dave and myself met outside the pub and Jade ran down the hill to meet us having left her car at Tolworth Recreation Centre so she could make a quick getaway at the end of the task.

Our 2.5km run took us up the hill, which is great for training, and fortunately it levelled off before a slight decline. We arrived at the Recreation Centre having worked up quite a sweat and met Jana on the way in. Susan was there to meet us and put us straight to task - we were asked to help with the Pantry Foodbank's deep clean. This involved moving all the items off the shelves into the green packing boxes and wiping down the surfaces. Not a small task but fortunately many hands make light work.

Jana and Dave worked in the stockroom whilst Rachel, Claire and Jade worked in the main room. After ten minutes Emily turned up which helped speed up the process. Soon enough, surfaces were wiped, stock was replaced, the fridge was cleaned and the floor was swept and mopped. There was even enough time to laugh at the humorously named soup - minds out the gutter, everyone!

Once we had cleared up, we had a chat with Susan and then we went on our way. We'll be back in three months time to help out again!

We've already got a date in the diary for the next visit to The Kingston Pantry Foodbank so please sign up if you are free.

Valentine's Day and what better way to spend the evening than running to GrowBaby to share the love. Jade, Rachel, Dave, Catherine and Claire met at the Quaker Centre for a warm up in the car park. We ran 2.5km round Fairfield and through the back streets to the Hub where Growbaby has their sessions. We met up with Tanya and Litza, the managers of Growbaby, and after a quick chat we got to work.

We were tasked with building a new shelving unit but to do that we had to move baby and toddler equipment upstairs, where Tanya sorted it into piles to keep or throw as unfortunately some of the donated items were missing vitals parts. After a space had been made and the floor vacuumed, Catherine and Dave got the mallets and set to work building the shelving unit. Claire and Jade sorted the shoes into pairs and sizes as some of them had walked off by themselves.

Rachel and Litza organised the boxes and measured areas to try and work out where the rest of the stuff should be stored. Thanks to GoodGym one of the downstairs areas is almost completely organised - but there is one room left to go! More missions for another month.

What a lovely evening. We tidied up and left GrowBaby in a slightly more organised state. Then we hit the streets and went off to The Albion for a GoodGym date night.