It’s a wrap”

We were told as we arrived clad in Santa hats, elf jackets and brimming with lots of enthusiasm to help to wrap Christmas presents for disadvantaged children. Oh. Not “ho ho ho”, just oh. The presents had all been wrapped, there was nothing to do.

Oh yes there is”

We chimed, and found tasks that were crying out for some GoodGym attention. Some clothes still needed to be organised, folded and put in boxes. We mulled (without wine) over which were for girls and which were for boys, and also identified a separate category of “clothes that we thought would suit a Scandinavian child in Surbiton”. With boxes filled and labelled, we thought we were done.

Oh no you’re not”

A hidden task emerged courtesy of Kate’s eager task identification: the boxes needed to be carried out to the cars. Boxing Day had arrived already! And then a third emerged and it was the perfect task for GoodGym: walking to a second destination to unload the boxes after transportation. And then carrying them down into the grotto that was filled from floor to ceiling with boxes. Having thought we weren’t needed, it turned out that we could be very ‘elful indeed.

Fuelled by mince pies from Helen (thank you, as Jenni said, you can come again!), we headed down to our second venue (by foot, not sleigh I’m afraid). After a rain(deer)y game of walkers versus cars (we won, of course!), we started unloading the boxes at The Hub. As the saying goes, “where there’s a David, objects will multiply”, and he proved this to be true yet again, this time doing the double. Not only did cars keep coming but he had performed some kind of Christmas miracle magic trick, with an unbelievable number of boxes appearing in the basement having only carried one down. It’s beyond me.

It was time for the third “game” of the mission, this time a festive version of pass the parcel down the stairs. A game that tested our upper body strength, spatial awareness, stair descending in pairs - but as a giant human chain, we formed the slickest of human chain teams and the boxes were safely relocated.

NOW it’s a wrap! (Take two).