This evening's task was weeding in the quadrangle and painting in the parish hall at All Saints in Boyne Hill. And wow, what a turnout! This was our 444th community mission, so it is possible I'm not remembering all the details, but I'm pretty sure that never ever have we ever had this many people on an in-person community mission before! (No not that All Saints! Oh dear...)

A big GoodGym welcome to new members Nivi, Emma and Gylla. Yes the puns are always this terrible. Everyone please do click on their names to find their profiles and give them a big cheer on their first good deeds.

Thanks to Father Jeremy and All Saints Church historian Ken for giving us all a warm welcome and for arming us with lots of tools. This listed Victorian church is a lovely setting for a GoodGym session, particularly on a mild June evening, with the majestic tree in the centre of the quadrangle in full leaf.

Emma, Hannah, Nicola, Nivi, Gylla and Amy were team All Paints. Step one was sanding - a great arm work-out, if a bit noisy. Step two was a speedy wipe down, and step three a theraputic application of gloss. By the end the skirting boards looked satisfyingly pristine. We look forward to returning to give the remaining woodwork the same treatment.

Vicki, Louise, Kanika, Diya, Roberta, Tara, Michelle, Juli, Tessa, and Georgeta were the weed dream team, fanning out across the quadrangle and battling the weeds with great energy. The grass encroaching onto the tarmac from the central circle was particularly stubborn, but the team made great progress and pulled up an a-Boyne-dance of weeds.

As well as all this weeding and painting, we also managed a few more things this evening...

• Georgeta taught Tara how to speak to weeds in Romanian
• We learnt about the famous architect George Edmund Street, who designed this beautiful church in 1857. The tiled floor is currently undergoing a huge refurbishment project, so the church is closed, but some of us got a peek inside.
• We learnt about Nic's pet rat George (an intelligent chap, but easily distracted by food....aren't we all George!?)
• Green-fingered Juli ran 4km carrying a caddy of gardening tools
• Amy, Nivi and Gylla found common ground reminiscing about working in the toy industry
• Michelle found a secret strawberry farm
• Tara got her documents checked by Amy, so she is now on the road to becoming 'mission verified' - whoop whoop!
• Vicki took delivery of a bag full of plastic bottle tops to use in crafts at her pre-school
• Diya mastered (invented?) the three different ways to use a hoe. Can we call it the hoe-ly trinity?

So all in all a very productive evening. Well done everyone! We hope to return to help at All Saints again soon.