Six Good Gymers were successfully able to provide a ‘United Response’ to help clear leaves and rubbish from the grounds of the residential house, Harlequin Lodge which is run by the United Response charity .

One of the first challenges, however, for the participants was getting to the task itself. Despite it being a day of mostly glorious sunshine, the deluge descended just an hour before we were meant to start! This was not going to stop Salwa, however, who cycled through the downpour, while Monkia ran all the way from Richmond! Others meanwhile had to negotiate various forms of public transport.

I, however, had the luxury of walking just a few minutes before arriving at the task site.

After we all arrived, Heather, the Lodge manager decided very wisely we should focus on clearing the driveway and leave painting the shed for another time. As the weather steadily improved, we set about sweeping and removing any unwanted leaves, twigs and rubbish.

We managed to fill up all the rubbish sacks provided and the driveway itself certainly looked a lot clearer as a result of our efforts. Despite being drenched the Good Gym volunteers proved again they were up to the challenge!