Fifteen GoodGymers dashed through the 'snow' (more like leaves) to the British Heart Foundation charity shop this evening, ready to deck the halls and spread some festive cheer!

The shop was a winter wonderland waiting to happen. Boxes of baubles, piles of presents, and a tons of tinsel were waiting to be carried, sorted and arranged. The GoodGymers, armed with tinsel and tape, transformed the shop into a Christmas cracker. We hung stockings, draped garlands, arranged shelves, created table displays and built Christmas trees... With each ornament hung, the shop’s festive spirit grew. It was a real sleigh ride of an evening!

To add to the festivities, we were lucky enough to be joined by the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Councillor Liz Green and her assistant, Brian. After a brief welcome and introduction they both got stuck in. With so many hands helping this evening we got so much done - it was a Christmas miracle!

A few milestones were celebrated this evening. Congrats to Ben and Hazel for both achieving 10 good deeds. Claire hit an amazing 150 and our unwavering leader Rachel smashed a staggering 400 good deeds! Excellent work all round and quite conveniently celebrated in the pub afterwards for our monthly social :)

On a lovely Autumn morning Claire, Julie and Sabir welcomed Stephanie to her first GoodGym mission at the GoodGym flowerbed to prepare it for winter.

Sabir got straight on with clearing the leaves whilst Claire, Julie and Stephanie tackled the weeds.

Bed tidied it was time for the fun part of planting all the spring bulbs. We planted lots of daffodils, tulips and alliums as well as a random selection of bulbs left over from Claire’s garden last year.

The last job was the hardcore gym part of our session. It involved 3 people walking along way through the gardens to the woodchip pile where we filled massive buckets up with wood chip and then walked them back. Having completed 3 runs we decided we’d gathered enough and hope to have a wheel barrow for next time.

The bed is looking lovely and should provide lots of Spring colour. 🌷🪻🌷

The Forest School allotment at St John's needed our help, and we were ready for action! Led by volunteer Alex, we got to work removing pesky bindweed that was creeping up the fences and into the allotment.

With tools and gloves on, Merton tourist Rachael, Emma, and Jana used trowels and forks to dig out the roots, while Luke and Tom took on the perimeter with spades. Rachel untangled the bindweed from the fence with impressive precision.

At halftime, we split into two groups, head torches on, to tackle weeds inside and outside the allotment. Before long, the job was done! To top it off, we got introduced to the resident chickens and rabbits. Mission accomplished – can’t wait to return!

Tonight we were back for our last monthly visit to the Canbury Community Garden 🍅 and the GoodGym flowerbed 🌸for the summer season. We were joined on our Group Run by Olly Whering, one of our local Councillors, and showed him first hand the wonders of GoodGym.

After running 🏃‍♀ 🏃‍♂, cycling 🚴‍♀ and walking🚶 over to Canbury Gardens we split into two teams one moving a shed and the other weeding 🌱the GoodGym flowerbed.

Luke, Ben, Dave and Marie-Noelle donned their gloves and removed the shed from its existing (rotting) foundations. The pallets it was resting on were starting to disintegrate so they were all removed and the ground levelled. Some old paving slabs were then broken up and used as a more solid base. Once the intricate levelling process was completed (involving a plank of wood (and spirit level, to be fair)), the shed was placed back and contents returned.

Emma, Jana and Ben got to work on the weeds 🌱 and leaf clearing 🍂and Sabir tackled the ever-growing laurel 🍃 whilst Claire went on a run 🏃‍♀ up the park for the rubbish sack. Rachel and Olly joined in on the weeding 🌱and the task was completed in record time.

No watering 💦 was required as no sooner had we finished the heavens opened 🌧 which swiftly put and end to any further activity so we headed off 🏃‍♂🏃‍♀🚴‍♀🚶to the pub 🍻for our social and a good natter.

Great to have you along, Olly. Hope to see you at another soon!

A good turn out. All 7 goodgymers arrived on bikes, shankis pony, and running. Tonight was a great workout. The area was well and truly deshedded [RIP] in the hope that a new shed finds it's way to Jubilee Square. Also a load of dead foliage was taken to rebuild the hedge.

Tonight we met at the GoodGym flowerbed after running, walking and cycling our ways there. Sabir got straight into a big work out collecting bucket after bucket of water from the river to water the thirsty plants whilst Charlotte, Julie, Emily and Claire got on with the weeding. Emily then cut back some laurel and Julie and Sabir topped up the woodchip.

The flowerbed was then tidy until next time.

Welcome to Charlotte on her first task.

Despite the high temperatures and sweaty run to Growbaby tonight we still worked tirelessly to tick everything off the to-do list - and more.

A number of the group sought sanctuary in the cool basement when we arrived. Dave mended a shelf while Sabir moved broken items into a side room. Hazel and Benjamin sorted the baby food, sanitary products and other random bits littering the tight space. Gemma sorted through the toy boxes and refilled the basket of soft toys and Luke restocked the supply of summer hats upstairs. Upstairs Emma sorted the story books while Dave satisfyingly tidied and matched up the toys on display making the collection more appealing for the visiting families.

Growbaby is such a valuable place for the families that use it and as usual Rachel had a long list of jobs for us to tackle. It was a pleasure to leave the hub spic and span. Luckily it had cooled down a bit for our 2.5km return run back along the river to the Quaker Centre.

A month has flown by and it was time to give the GoodGym flowerbed its monthly check up and help out at the Canbury Community Gardens.

We had 9 enthusiastic GoodGymers this evening so we split into two groups and got cracking.

The GoodGym garden crew noticed that signs were good with some late alliums making an appearance and the salvias still providing lots of colour. Weeds had returned but were not too invasive so Claire and Sabir got tackling those and the dry leaves whilst Luke and Tom gave the laurel a hair cut and got rid of some larger weeds and brambles. A few trips to top up the woodchip and a quick drink for the hydrangea and the GG flowerbed was looking wonderful again.

Meanwhile, back at the community garden... Ben and Hazel got stuck into their first GG task by shoveling a load of mature compost into holding bins ready for when needed. Marie Noelle, Dave & Rachel spent their time trimming pathways and pruning bushes and plants that were over their best.

All in all a very productive and fun task! Welcome to GoodGym, Hazel and Benjamin. Hope to see you again :)

After a few days brake (following the group run earlier this week) we returned to Full Cycle today.

The storage area was desperately in need of a tidy up so we took things up a gear reorganising the space, shelves and various boxes of bike parts. It's amazing what a few hands can do in less than an hour!

Five GoodGymers assembled to assemble

Armed with Alan keys, screwdrivers and glue, we put together flat pack furniture donations from Wayfair ready to hit the shop floor at the British Heart Foundation store

The crowning achievement and group effort was a desk - with multiple different screws, a drawer AND a cupboard - accompanied with a manual which made it very clear that not only should people and weights not be placed on top; but possibly most importantly, no sandwiches.