What a productive session at the Little Ark Sew-cial and two of the team stitched up a storm, creatinh reusable sanitary towels aimed at tackling both period poverty and single-use plastic waste.

By the end of the craft session, a massive pile washable period pads was almost complete and ready for distribution.

With the stitching finished, the team supported with packing down the space. Sewing machines were boxed up, fabric scraps cleared, tables neatly stacked and the room was reset.

This evening, our post-distribution cleaning team tackled the clean-up in record time! From scrubbing fridges and wiping down boxes to sorting recycling and stacking crates, it was a fast-and-furious effort from start to finish. Huge well done to the team for leaving the space spotless.

11 GoodGymers gathered at Mostyn Garden for an after-dark outdoor session to help maintain the garden’s tranquil environment. With darkness setting in, the team worked under torchlight to clear overgrown weeds along the paths and throughout the garden area. Thanks to the team's hard work, the paths and garden surroundings are now neat, tidy, and ready for the season ahead; keeping the darkness at bay!

Two literary-minded Merton Goodgymmers headed back to Morden this afternoon to help the St James crew pack up its annual book sale fundraiser and return the church hall to its usual state. Thankfully there was much less to put away than there had been to put out, and with no need to sort by genre we quickly packed everything back into storage before folding down tables and chairs and resetting the hall.

It was a satisfying epilogue to the previous day's setup efforts. In less than 24 hours, the whole book fair had become a classic open and shut (book)case!

Four GoodGymmers spent the afternoon helping shift and arrange over 3,000 books, CDs, DVDs and records ahead of St James' annual fundraising sale. After many trips from the storage area laden with boxes, bags and fruit flats (and even a full church pew!), the empty church hall was transformed into a browser's paradise, ready to open a new chapter tomorrow. This hefty task left volunteers with quite the back story, as well as a healthy respect for the weight of the written word!

This afternoon we headed to help Christian Care Merton to tackle an overgrown garden area. After hacking away a dense tangle of stubborn brambles, we set to work with spades and forks, digging to unearth buried brick, cement, and rocks in an attempt to clear the debris and begin flattening the space to prepare it for the next stage of transformation.

It was proper hard graft, and this project is definitely going to need a return visit or two - along with plenty more muscle! A huge well done and thank you to the hardy volunteers who answered the last-minute call-out. We will be back soon with hopefully a few more helpers.