With a big number of sign-ups expected, it was the perfect opportunity to help both the Friends of Raynes Park and arrange an additional job at one of the Merton Garden Streets nearby. After the runners arrived, a breakaway group headed off to tackle the weeding job up the road and get some extra steps in, while the rest of the team checked in for duties at the station embankment.

We split into teams to tackle pruning, litter picking, and turning the compost, making fantastic progress across the board.

Meanwhile, the watering team faced a hilarious logistical puzzle due to a missing hose (apparently removed by workmen!). Instead, they improvised with a brilliantly inefficient bucket brigade: filling watering cans, emptying them into trug buckets on trolleys, and then pouring them back into watering cans at the embankment.

Despite the extra steps, everyone adapted brilliantly. The pruners, litter pickers, and compost-turners crushed their tasks, and the watering team managed to get some momentum going and plenty of watering completed. Well done, team!

This task was all about trying not to cover ourselves in green paint while sprucing up the playground fence at Garfield Recreation Ground. Luckily the afternoon rain had stopped so we had a healthy turn out of 10 GoodGymers, with a group of us running over to the park. It was lovely to welcome local councillor Eleanor Stringer, fresh from re-election last week, first-timer Ralph and GoodGym superstar Louise, who came all the way from Tower Hamlets. The enthusiasm and hard work of the group meant that we glossed up our allotted section of the fence in record time and made good progress with another unpainted section on the other side. Afterwards we enjoyed a well-earned drink at the Garden Shed pub and raised a glass to brushing up our painting skills.