7 GoodGymers walked, ran and cycled their way to St Paul’s C of E Primary School to lend a hand transforming the reception playground, ready for the new school year in September.

It was a fun evening with plenty to get stuck into. We gave a ‘lollipop’ style fence a fresh coat of paint, making it once again bright and colourful ready for next term. The shed also got a much-needed makeover. Alongside the painting, we swept and weeded the area to make it spic and span!

For a few of us this task was especially meaningful with our children recently leaving St Paul’s to start secondary school. They may have moved on, but we clearly haven’t! It was lovely to give back to a school that’s meant so much to our families.

A great team effort and transformation.

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.

Something a bit different on a boiling hot evening as it was all aboard the Thames Venturer for a clean-up.

The lovely old vessel, part of the River Boat Project as a floating classroom to teach children about the water, does get a bit dusty during the winter.

Petra, David and Dave were off sweeping and washing the deck, while Tom and Rachel cleaned the windows. Marcos, JP, Claire and Laura gathered fresh water to fill the tank on the boat with relay visits back to Teddington Lock Island.

Fun to be on the water in a lovely setting and hope to be back again another time. And welcome David on his first task.

Tuesday’s group run took us to Hestia’s Good Energy Club, a fantastic community space supporting people experiencing mental health challenges. Their mission is to improve physical wellbeing, support mental health and reduce social isolation - values very much aligned with GoodGym’s own.

We arrived in force and were welcomed by John, who gave us a tour before offering the ultimate volunteer incentive: snacks in exchange for our cleaning efforts. Armed with hoovers, cloths, spray bottles and plastic gloves, we got straight to work.

We were also joined by special guests Ivo and Hannah. Rather than rolling out the red carpet, we rolled out the hoovers and put them straight to work alongside the rest of the team. After deciding who was tackling which room, John put on a soundtrack of 90s classics that kept spirits high and energy levels up throughout the evening.

The hour flew by, and before long it was time for a final snack break and the journey home. John was hugely appreciative of the help, explaining that the club doesn’t have a dedicated cleaning budget and that maintaining such a large space can be a real challenge.

It was lovely to meet Hannah on her first task, and congratulations again on your new role as CEO of GoodGym.