GoodGym were hanging out behind the bike sheds at St Paul’s School in Kingston today! It was a fantastic turnout of parents, teachers and children and it was great to see such lovely community spirit in action.

We reported to the Head Teacher and he quickly put us to work showing us around the back of the school to the bike sheds, which were looking rather sorry for themselves.

Out first job was to clear away all the leaves, dust, mud and abandoned scooters from inside the shelter. It was then super soaker time!!

Matthew’s eyes lit up at the chance to use the pressure washer, but the initial drizzle of water was more than a little disappointing! Turns out the circuit breaker needed to be reset and the soaker then jumped into action, but still not as strong as we had secretly all hoped. A very helpful local gardener then came across and increased the pressure for us and we were back in business!

We all took it in turn to play, sorry, make use, of the super soaker! Matthew cleaned all the lockers inside and out and Samia climbed up around a rather tangly tree to start making a dent on the moss covered roof. Dave and Jane then created a fantastic tag team of scrubber and soaker to tackle the tough dirt at the back of the shelter, while Nicky dodged the showers inside and cleaned the cobwebs away and swept away the dirt as it was being blasted off the shelter.

It was a fantastic team effort and the red GoodGym whirlwind transformed the shelter with passing parents commenting on how sparkling it was looking.

With the shelter now gleaming in the morning sunshine the only thing that was left was to sweep away the final excess water...but there was a problem... the drain was completely blocked! Dave dived into help by plunging his arm elbow deep into the drain to clear out the muddy debris. Not the most glamorous end to a task but definitely a job very well done! Grade A GoodGym!

We arrived to help set up Ham Parade Market and got stuck in unloading a van. Laura tried out a new career of directing traffic, perfectly dressed in her high vis for it.

We then put up a giant, cranky, lanky, wonky and very stubborn gazebo, with Kate almost doing a Mary Poppins, being lifted into the air after being instructed to put all of her weight on the broken corner We persevered and the gazebo is currently standing, with tables and chairs that we also put out beneath. After carrying the weights back, we were good to go.

We shall return later to see if it's still standing!

Stop, wait a minute! We thought we were done but then we got trusted with additional tasks: putting up bunting (harder than it sounds, apparently) and Samia's mobile task of carrying tables and boxes to a van. Matt branched out to attach it to a tree and has now ticked putting up bunting from his bucket list!

A group of volunteer runners gathered at the Sainsbury's in Kingston to do some bag packing for good(gym)ness sa(c)ke in exchange for donations to support the Rainbow Trust Children's Charity.

Rainbow Trust supports families who have a child aged 0-18 years with a life threatening or terminal illness. The Family Support Workers provide a life line to these families and children. They bring support and help to families who so desperately need it at home, in hospital and in the community.

The first shift was filled by a team of seven spread across the row of tills to ask the customers if they would lettuce help them pack their shopping. A few grateful customers told us that they thought it was a grape idea and donated generously. While many customers were determined to stick to their own packing systems and declined our help, they did kindly donate anyway. Samia and Laura took on a new strategy and eagerly met customers approaching the tills to unpack their trolleys before they’d made it to the bagging stage! Nicky did an expert job with the photography in between her smiley bag packing duties. Since all tills were covered with help being offered, Rob found a more useful spot and stationed himself at the door with a donation pot, even convincing his mum to part with her change. While the packing jobs seemed light, some volunteers set out to scan the shop floor to hand out stickers from the Rainbow Trust to any children that keenly accepted them.

A big thank you to Sainsbury’s Surrey Basin for welcoming us to support the Rainbow Trust and giving us space to store our bags. Well done to everyone who was able to give their time this Saturday afternoon offering to pack customers' groceries for donations for this important charity. It was lovely to see Jacqueline, Milla, Lorena and Matthew (solo) joining us for their first community mission.