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.

Rather unusually for a task we had to ‘break in’ to this one, with a saw, cutting back a thorny rose tree to gain entry to the garden we were tasked with clearing. Yes this week our group run was to St Paul’s C of E school where the long abandoned caretakers garden needed some serious attention from our group of seven GoodGymers.

We were glad to welcome new GoodGymer Zander at our meeting point at the Quaker Centre, and ran 2.5km to the task.

Once into the garden it was clear why our help was needed. The garden was littered with broken pots, dozens of growing bags full of old compost, overgrown spiky palms and a greenhouse full of dumped items.

Once again it’s amazing what a group can achieve in an hour. Luckily the school had got a skip and boy did we get to work filling it. Emily did a sterling job cutting back the worst of the spiky plants with Claire adding the cuttings to growing compost pile. Dave, Zander and Tom focussed on the top half of the garden, in particular the greenhouse which was transformed. Emma and Rachel went back and forth to the skip with the wheel barrow.

We gladly salvaged lots of items - ceramic pots, trays, a bird feeder and a lawn mower - which the school’s gardening club intend to put to good use. Hopefully now they have a clearer space they can work with.

We took a different 2.5km route back to base for a welcome stretch and cool down led by Emma who has hopefully now passed her GoodGym fitness leader training! Well done Emma and congratulations on achieving 50 good deeds as well this evening. You're an asset to GoodGym, thank you for all your support and enthusiasm.

GoodGymer Claire got in touch to say that Glendale were giving away primulas that, if not taken by local groups, would be heading to the dump. I picked up 5 trays and drove them to St Paul’s School as they are started a gardening project this winter. Hopefully these pretty primulas will cheer up the beds and the kids and teachers too.

What a transformation! The before and after shots say it all. With their caretaker currently unwell, the school entrance and car park at St Paul’s CofE school had become overgrown with weeds and fast spreading ivy - even partially blocking the pedestrian entrance and street name sign. Together with Rachel, Dave and another school parent, we blitzed the area. Appearances really do matter when it’s the first thing you see arriving for a day at work or to study! The headteacher and another teacher have already been in touch to remark on the difference it’s made.

Great work by GoodGym Kingston tonight. We ran up to St Paul's School on Kingston Hill to help out as their caretaker had been off poorly. The playground and outside areas had started to get a bit tatty and they needed our help to get back on top of the jobs.

We grabbed the brushes and tools and went off to weed the playground edges that had started to get overgrown with grass and stubborn greenery. Emma went round the reception buiding and sheds while Julie and Claire went round the main building and soon made small piles of weeds ready to be swept up. Dave and Paul (a parent who offered to help as well) moved fresh compost from the car park to the trees in the reception area - giving them nutrients which will help them flourish and make shade for the smallest members of the school. Sabir got busy with the broom and helped to tidy up the leaves on the playground floor.

We were asked to empty two bins in the shape of hippos but they were locked shut so unfortunately we couldn't do that job and we also couldn't get rid of a dead, thorny bush as we needed saws to cut through the thick branches. A bit of brainstorming about the tools and protective layers we'd need mean we can offer our help another time!

Progress was quickly made and soon our hour was up and we admired the difference made in such short time. We'll be back to help with the thorny bush soon.

Well done, everyone! Fantastic effort. See you soon for another task soon.

It was a lovely fresh evening when we met up for our group run. Fortunately the big black clouds overhead didn't drop their raincloud on us and we did a lap of Fairfield recreation ground after our warm up to celebrate with Dave and Jana on their bikes as back markers. We then hit the streets and went off the main roads to the quieter suburban roads to the school.

St Paul's School is similar to many others in that funding is tight and there's not much left in the pot even for essential roof repairs. We were asked to help with preparing the walls for decorating - a job kindly done by one of the parents who is in the trade. Freddie met us there and let us know which jobs to prioritize. We sanded down the skirting boards, removed pictures from the walls and even scrubbed the lockers to get the wow effect once the paint had been applied.

With so many willing hands, Emma (our amazing new member), Tom and Liz had time to fill a bag of leaves from the playground. An hour quickly flew by and we tidied up the tools making sure to not leave any for small hands to find the next day. And then it was time to hit the streets and head back to the Quaker Centre for a warm down.

A job well done - thank you to everyone that attended. And a warm welcome to Emma - hope to see you at another task soon.