It was a hot and sweaty evening, but that didn't stop an incredible team effort as we helped Voices of Hope prepare for their move into Kingston Library. We wasted no time getting started, splitting into teams as soon as we arrived. Dave, Luke, Marcos, John, Jana, Sabir and newcomer Hannah took on the heavy lifting, carrying desks, cabinets, pinboards and other bulky furniture down flights of stairs and into the waiting skip.

Another team tackled a ground-floor room packed from floor to ceiling. We uncovered everything from children's books, stickers and umbrellas to an old projector screen, mountains of shredded paper, a coat stand and even a monkey face cut-out board, which naturally became the star of our group photo later!

It quickly became clear that the fastest approach was a human chain. Claire, Anna and Emily kept everything moving, with paper sorted for recycling while the rest of us passed item after item towards the skip.

Outside, John soon earned the title of "King of the Skip", climbing aboard to pack everything in while Dave joined him to make the most of every inch of space. By halfway through, the skip was already nearly full.

Louise kept us organised, directing what needed clearing next, while cardboard was flattened and everyone pitched in. After a quick water break to admire how much we'd achieved, we tackled one final room full of heavy boxes, discovering a fascinating old book filled with historic photographs of Kingston Library that may even be of interest to the museum.

As the last items disappeared, Sekar swept whilst Anna vacuumed and Louise, Hannah and Marcos helped pick up the many small paper pieces off the floor. Nikita kept the human chain flowing of the last few bits to the skip. Hannah even rescued a few children's books for her classroom.

In just one hour we'd filled a skip, emptied multiple rooms and left the building ready for Voices of Hope to move into their new home. We celebrated with chocolate bars, plenty of smiles and a brilliant group photo—some of us perched on the skip, others pulling faces through the monkey cut-out.

A fantastic evening of teamwork and an amazing amount achieved in just one hour! 💚

Tonight was all about watering as the heatwave continues to keep everyone and the plants hot and thirsty.

Having located the handle for the water carriers and extra buckets Dave, Luke, Claire and Jonathan headed to the river to fill every bucket, wheelbarrow and watering can in sight.

Wheelbarrows loaded with water were wheeled over to the GoodGym flowerbed for watering all the plants to keep it looking colourful and keep them going for a few more days.

Meanwhile the water carriers were taken to the community garden and emptied into the waterbutts. As fast as they were filled they were emptied for watering all the vegetables.

By the end it was a slick operation emptying the water carriers into buckets and into the waterbutts.

In between all of this Tom and Laura managed to give the compost heaps a good turn as well.

Let hope we get some rain before our next visit.