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! 💚

2 Goodgymers, another volunteer and Lakshmi (BRITE Box Events & Fundraising Lead and Project Coordinator in Kingston) showed our strengths💪🏼 today. We all got stuck in and helped each other by transporting a delivery of crates full of 600 tins, bags of flour and blocks of cheese for the BRITE box project at Kingsgate Church in Kingston.

Now, they’re ready to be delivered to local schools where children can start cooking healthy delicious meals with their classmates. Perhaps, they can also show off to their parents for Christmas too!

Bon appetit! 🧑‍🍳 🍽️ 👩‍🍳

We helped move a bulk crate delivery of tins of pulses and tomatoes, together with blocks of cheese and butter from the ground floor to the Church upstairs. This was in preparation for Brite Box filling tomorrow.

We came and boxed up dozens of Brite Boxes of food for families of children in the borough which was a direct result of the great work of one of our great Lions - Marcus Rashford! It was a good work out for us too!

I made my way to Kingston Gate Church to help the other volunteers with Bright Boxes - I completed a 5k walk there this time!

Bright boxes are a fab idea! They are boxes which provide ingredients and recipes to local families, to enable them to cook healthy meals.

I spent the time making up boxes with another volunteer, we chatted and joked about our high efficiency... and joked about turning it into a career.

Task went well and I look forward to getting involved again in future! 😁

I started this mission by trying to locate a bus stop (it was suppose to be a run or walk... but long story).

I made my way to Kingston Gate Church to help the other volunteers move Bright Boxes.

Bright boxes are a fab idea! They are boxes which provide ingredients and recipes to local families, to enable them to cook healthy meals. They get a nutritionist seal of approval from me!

On arrival I provided with hand sanitiser and a thermometer. Hand sanitised and a temperature of 36.4 °C, I was then able to get stuck in!

I helped move some of the boxes and got stuck in with making up empty boxes for next weeks boxes (and chatted away...).

I really enjoyed being involved in this, we had a great production line going and I look forward to returning in the future!