It was a dark and chilly evening but that never stops GoodGym Kingston from showing up and getting the job done. Tonight's task we were at Elm Road playground with the task of digging/scraping/sweeping the borders of all weeds and mulch that has accumulated over the years.

As we were readying ourselves for the task we were joined by a local Community Support Officer from the Met Police - she had heard about our work in the area and had come to connect and give a helping hand. No arrests were made but the weeds were guilty of loitering and needed to be removed from the area.

Accompanied by a few local residents, we all donned head-torches and gloves, grabbed our tools of choice and set to it. The hour flew by and we had soon filled several bin bags full of the offending weeds and thick mulch. Amazing to see the difference our efforts made. Mission accomplished.

The first properly cold day of the season had arrived, but GoodGym perseveres come rain come shine, and come dark cold wintery evenings.

We met Ken on the corner of Petersham Common, where our task for the night was to plant 200 tulip bulbs, to bring in a burst of colour come springtime. We donned our high-viz, and we set to work, digging up six inches of soil. Question: is this a man’s six inches or a woman’s six inches. Ken smiled, ‘a man’s’ and Liz grinned back ‘so four then’. Once we had ourselves down to a satisfactory depth, it was time to plant the bulbs, arranging them in the ground, and wondering which colours would bloom come March.

Susannah had arrived at this point, fresh from her NEW place (which has been a discussion point of GoodGym Richmond for probably 2 years now!). Better late than never, and got stuck right in. It was time to shovel the soil back over, with a poo-tifal addition of some freshly laid horse poop from the roadside. Resourceful? I think so. Man-ure smart for making use of what we have around us!

What’s better than one late arrival to a task? Two! Jp showed his face at this point, after a tough day at the office. Perfect timing, as we were ready to stamp down the laid soil, and could take some of our stresses out on the ground. Topics of conversation at this point also involved burying difficult clients at work, and whether the best strategy for disposing of a body would be in plain site wearing high-viz next to the Petersham Road.

Adam gave us a final stamp of soil and a sprinkling of leaves, and job was a good one. Ken rewarded us with mince pies for our efforts. Alex was so keen to get hers home she forgot she was in her bright orange high visibility vest and was halfway back to Richmond before we realised!

Alex was clearly keen to brighten up the dark cold evenings, and have something to look forward to. In her case, a treat from Ken, and for the rest of us, a long winter ahead hopefully filled with fun, friends and food, and some beautifully coloured flowers on the roadside in four or so months time.

A neatening evening in Richmond town centre as we headed to St Mary Magdalene churchyard where the grade II listed war memorial needed some tidying up. Under the watchful eye of task owner Ken we weeded the bed and tidied up the slabs that surround it before Ken blew in with his leaf blower and cleared away the loosened weeds, moss and grass to leave the whole thing ready for remembrance.

An unexpected start to the evening as four members witnessed then helped with a traffic accident before handing over to police who arrived at the scene with blue lights on!

Thankfully the task itself was just around the corner where the rest of the group had already started digging holes to plant bluebells in the graveyard area that Ken has been working on.

After some careful digging in the dark, the group headed to the nearby Angel & Crown for a Taskforce catch-up, full of ideas and appreciation for what everyone does to make GG Richmond something special to be part of. ❤️