It was a hot summer's day when three keen GoodGym runner beans made their way to Samye. Andrew and Marie arrived first, and had just enough time to digest Lorraine's detailed instructions and peruse the menu of Samye's "Mugs and Momos" cafe before Lucy rolled in on her trusty basket-bearing bicycle.

The three donned their masks and gloves and immediately got to work, with Lucy vacuuming the stairs and hallway of number 252 and the other two moving various artefacts from the landing down into the front room. There were pictures and plants, some talk of paints and a surprise appearance of pants.

After the landing was quickly cleared (apart from the pants), the second task was to move a cabinet so that it could be used as a tea-making area, and the third was to carry in a couple of big blue chairs from the library.

After a brief rest and some fresh air it was time to switch things up. Marie took over the vacuuming in number 248 while Lucy and Andrew were tasked with removing blue-tack, wall plugs and picture hooks from the walls of 252's front room so that they were ready for painting. They got right on track, tactfully tackling the tack with every trick in the pack, and before long the walls were clear and smooth, ready to be spruced up as part of a future GoodGym task.

All jobs now complete, we gathered outside and gradually gravitated towards the shade of one of the courtyard gazebos. Lorraine kindly presented each of us with a handmade friendship bracelet, followed by a plateful of gluten-free vegan-cheese-and-tomato toasties. "Say Cheese," she said as we posed for a photo.

The speed at which the delicious snacks disappeared showed how much our efforts had worked up our appetites, and once they were gone, we continued to sit around the table, relaxing in the shade and chatting about lighthouses and tipp-ex.