Two more members of the Merton crew stepped up as the ultimate festival gatekeepers. Tasked with checking in the crowds, scanning tickets, and welcoming hundreds of excited attendees. With bright smiles and speedy scanning, they kept the queues moving and the good vibes flowing right from the entrance.

There’s nothing like being the welcoming committee for a massive wellness event, and our team absolutely smashed it.

With a big number of sign-ups expected, it was the perfect opportunity to help both the Friends of Raynes Park and arrange an additional job at one of the Merton Garden Streets nearby. After the runners arrived, a breakaway group headed off to tackle the weeding job up the road and get some extra steps in, while the rest of the team checked in for duties at the station embankment.

We split into teams to tackle pruning, litter picking, and turning the compost, making fantastic progress across the board.

Meanwhile, the watering team faced a hilarious logistical puzzle due to a missing hose (apparently removed by workmen!). Instead, they improvised with a brilliantly inefficient bucket brigade: filling watering cans, emptying them into trug buckets on trolleys, and then pouring them back into watering cans at the embankment.

Despite the extra steps, everyone adapted brilliantly. The pruners, litter pickers, and compost-turners crushed their tasks, and the watering team managed to get some momentum going and plenty of watering completed. Well done, team!

Rain was forecast for our group session at Beverley Park but luckily the deluge held off until just after we'd finished. The roses are looking blooming gorgeous at the moment but the beds needed some GoodGym muscle to help dig out the prickly thistles and clear the weeds that seem to spread like triffids. The team got stuck in and did an amazing job with no thorn-related injuries this time. It was great to welcome Catherine to her first session with us and to celebrate Ben reaching his 10th task. Go Ben 10, it's hero time!

The Ridgway Community Garden is looking so much better than when we first came along, but all gardens need constant care. And so we're back to help the wonderful volunteers by pruning, digging out and replacing dead plants, and not forgetting the perennial weeding. As always, it's great to see how much we manage to achieve in just an hour and we're all looking forward to next time.