This week's Goodgym mission took us to New Malden, Raleigh House, where Petra, Jana, Isabella, and Emily got stuck into some serious garden TLC for the elderly residents who use the day centre. Armed with brushes, rakes, and plenty of enthusiasm, we swept up piles of oak leaves, weeded the patio, and tidied the flowerbeds until they were looking neat and cheerful once again. The oak tree had clearly been feeling generous with its autumn drop, but we weren’t leafing until the job was done! We also planted colourful spring bulbs- little bursts of future sunshine to brighten the residents’ outlook in the months to come. Supervising our efforts was Purdey the dog, who kept a close eye on proceedings (and may have been scouting for cake crumbs). Speaking of which, Jana’s homemade carrot cake made for a perfect halftime treat - fueling us for the final push. Two hours later, the garden was looking spick, span, and splendid- ready to bring smiles to everyone at Raleigh House. A blooming brilliant effort from the whole team!

It might have been blowing a hooley but that didn't deter our hard-working team, including Isabella who was joning her first Merton session. Maggie set us to work clearing leaves (the wind had already made a start) and planting, while Williams spent his second day in a row taking care of compost! The local residents are all super appreciative and one even donated a chocolate cake. As the evenings are getting shorter, we ended the session in head torches. This may be our last evening here for a while but it will be lovely to see the fruits of our labour come spring.

Packed sunday today at Canbury Community Garden with Marylin & 4 GoodGymers. We rebuilt the 2 tables in the toddlers area, cleared away the rotten wood, made additional seating with hay bales & cleared away fallen leaves. We cut back over grown branches, thorns & nettles to improve access to the composing area & chopped up the cuttings. We topped planters with compost, harvested the prunes & refilled the barrel with river water

Two GoodGymers turned up to set up the 118 Petersham Horticultural Show first time in Ham. We got stuck in lifting chairs, tables and putting up bunting for the 118 show on Saturday.