Southampton Action work to support refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable groups in Southampton by collecting donations for distribution to those in the local area and further afield.

Yesterday we went to help them out at CLEAR for the first time with their monthly essentials distribution event where clients can come in and browse through donated items that they are then able to take free of charge.

We arrived and met our fellow volunteers, a lovely diverse group of people including refugees who had all come along to help. We received a very comprehensive and at times moving briefing telling us about the task at hand and the impact it would have on clients.

We were tasked with clearing the office space, then unloading a van full of donations (yes it was that full!) and moving the homeware donations upstairs before presenting the items for display.

Some of the boxes and bags were extremely heavy and Wilson and Lauren spent a considerable amount of time lifting a lot of boxes up a very narrow set of stairs. Its fair to say we were absolutely exhausted and we took a quick breather before getting back to help setting up the room for display.

Wilson got to work folding and displaying towels (finding the cow 🐄 and dinosaur 🦕 gems which simply had to be tried on) and Lauren was in charge of crockery and the odd curtain.

Once we had finished setting up Philip arrived and helped assist the refugees who had arrived to help make their selections.

We were incredibly moved by the work which Southampton Action do and will definitely be returning. A real difference was made and it was a true goodgym workout!

What started as an extremely soggy day on the Common soon brightened up ready for the RunThrough Southampton running festival. Wilson and Sarah set to work registering runners for the 5k, 10k and half marathon events. We also had India from GoodGym Portsmouth joining us to help for the morning. Great to see you! Philip and Stephanie headed to their marshalling positions out on the course full of cheer. Blue and I set off tail running for the half marathon and finished with someone doing their first ever race at that distance. A great morning everyone, well done.

Wow we had a super lovely Saturday at Aldermoor Farm cleaning bricks! The Sun was shining and it was great to be working at the farm whilst it was open - we caught the attention of quite a few children, curious as to what we were doing.

The 90 minutes passed super fast as we were able to chat and get to know a bit more about each other. Nice to have a mix of newer GG'ers and our friends from Portsmouth GoodGym. We sat and grabbed a drink after and were able to make purchases from the farm shop.

We cleaned approx 100 bricks, making a small dent in the pile still left to go!

Richard is now wondering if he may reuse the bricks on the farm to build a wall....I guess we better go back soon to clean some more 🧱🧱🧱

It was a right royal affair today with Prince Philip and Princess Eleanor Ellie delivering to some right royal roads in Rownhams. From Balmoral Way to Rufus court. I think we even spotted Windsor Castle at one point or at least Windsor Lodge anyway! Committed to our task of delivering leaflets for the fabulous Aldermoor Community Farm we set off with enthusiasm into the dark - we know how to party on a Friday night! We managed to deliver 200 leaflets between the two of us and a whole 5 miles. At one point I suggested we replace all the fruit and vegetables in the Waitrose delivery van we passed with leaflets for the farm. That was when we knew it was time to go home!