If the team thought last week's help getting Growbaby ready for its move to new premises in Kingston was tough, then it was time to think again.

After taking all of their stock up to the top floor, this week involved moving everything out of the shop altogether and into vans and lorries.

We were lucky to have a good squad on the ground as everything from bookshelves to cupboards, rails, boxes, toys and even a sofa had to find their way in.

Dave, Claire, Laura, Jonathan, Sabir and Marcos carried everything out while Cinthia and Rachel used remarkable spatial awareness to haul everything around the vans and lorries to pack as much in as possible. Tom enjoyed himself far too much moving the platform up and down.

The task was completed in solidarity with This Girl Can and their Let's Lift the Curfew campaign to highlight the issues for women being able to continue outdoor activities during winter.

They're such a great bunch at Growbaby and it was a pleasure to get active and help them on their way to an exciting new home.

One hour, two rooms, 3 units, 5 buggies and a million boxes v’s 10 GoodGymers.

Did we win? Of course we did with a lot of team work.

Having created a human chain from upstairs to downstairs we passed the boxes upstairs for stacking. This was relatively straightforward so we moved on to buggies, play mats, cots, toys and anything we could find. The pile grew bigger and bigger and higher and higher and we were at risk of being swallowed up by play mats and buggies so some Growbaby Tetris was required. Rooms virtually cleared there was one big unit left. After a lot of huffing and puffing it went up the stairs with not a mm to spare. Well done to Saber and Tanya’s husband.

It was amazing to see the empty rooms and we rewarded ourselves with chocolates, thank you Tanya.

We will be back next week for round 2 of Growbaby v’s GoodGym.

Armed with head torches, bright lights and an hour to make a difference, Kingston GoodGym headed into the darkness at Claremont Gardens to help Kingston Council improve the pond area.

After a briefing from Georgina, we split into two teams. Jonathan, Dave, Rachel and Anna tackled the invasive sumac threatening the pines, quickly filling garden waste bags with the help of saws and loppers.

Meanwhile, Jana, Tom and Georgina took on the two willows beside the pond. Tom sawed through the larger willow’s main trunk, and we chopped up the branches before turning our attention to the smaller tree.

Small willow, BIG roots! All three of us dug and cut our way around its surprisingly deep root system, discovering that the rope edging the pond was tangled in it too.

The larger willow proved too much for our tools and one saw sadly met its match during Jana’s attempt! We focused on the smaller willow instead, managing to remove most of its roots through a determined team effort.

An hour well spent, with bags filled and good progress made. A community group is being sought to help care for the gardens, so hopefully our efforts will sow the seeds for more local involvement.

Well done, everyone! Where there’s a willow, there’s a way!

Tonight’s happy band of GoodGymers went to Jubilee Square to the scene of the Great Woodchip Mountain!

We shifted, spread and raked our way through a serious amount of woodchip, filling every available nook and cranny around Jubilee Square.

The result? A much more even surface underfoot, a considerably tidier and more pleasing-looking space, and hopefully a few less opportunities for those pesky weeds to stage their next invasion.

There was also time for a good old litter pick.

And a big GoodGym welcome to Adamtonight. Always great to see fresh faces joining the gang — new blood is very much encouraged!

This week GoodGym Kingston headed to Elm Road Recreation Ground to help the Friends of Elm Road Rec with some autumn maintenance.

Playgrounds and recreation grounds are such important community assets we were pleased to be able to pop down to lend a hand to give this one some attention. Our task was to tackle the weeds and fallen leaves building up around the playground, particularly beneath the fences and along the perimeter, where debris can create trip hazards and litter can accumulate.

Armed with bags, litter pickers, secateurs, and rakes, the team got stuck into clearing weeds, collecting litter and sweeping up the autumn leaves. The nights are certainly drawing in as we all had to have have our head torches on by the end!

What a great turnout we had too. This week we had a running, walking and cycling group. We were also delighted to welcome two new GoodGymers to the team. A lovely way to spend an evening, get active and give something back to a local community space.

Big thanks to the Friends of Elm Road Rec for having us and providing a great collection of tools. We hope the recreation ground and playground is looking a little tidier - before another drop of autumn leaves!