GoodGym were orange hot today!

Luke and Rob arrived first and set to work painting the bench legs a lovely shade of orange. The first coat had already been done so it was just the top layer that was needed. The Wallers quickly set to work on the weeding, after they followed my telepathic directions to the task rather than giving telephone directions. It made sense in my head... With the weeds all plucked and the benches painted the next jobs on the list were to paint the flower tubs, a nice non bird poo friendly grey, although apparently red is best... lifting and shifting concrete blocks and starting a dead hedge to block out the view of the car park behind. Kate made her appearance after her coach visit and quickly set about helping out with the painting job. Rob started a dead hedge and went forraging for brush in the... Brush... Whilst Luke wrestled with an unmovable iron post. Remember your mattock next time. Finally on the stroke of noon, when the paint ran out and the sun was up high, it was time to plant ourselves in the freshly painted tubs, one household per tub, and pose for a group photo, Oscar the dog included. Congrats to Jamie on his 10th mission, the task force could really use a ninja like you.

Keep an eye out for more Latchmere Rec missions, Gloria and co have grand plans for the space including a pond that will need to be manually dug out in the autumn.

Another day another huge food bank delivery. Some 20 bags or more collected from a single street champion which was greatly received by the food bank.

Goodgym Kingston's first group community mission since lockdown measures came in (with social distancing precautions incorporated of course) - how exciting!

During its temporary closure, Mencap's Searchlight Community centre had been hit by flytippers and needed Goodgym's help to clear up and make the area safe to be used again once restrictions are lifted.

Whilst Rachel embraced her inner granny and used an abandoned wheelie shopping bag to quickly and efficiently transport the heavy rubble to the skip, Martel and Laura dealt with the mattress and Jamie got to work on substituting his gym workout for some heavy lifting.

It's definitely true that many hands make light work - within half an hour the area was pretty much clear and looking a lot safer. The only thing left to do was take a final goodgym group shot (spot the 2 that live in the same household!) We look forward to returning to the centre again soon to help tackle the overgrown garden!