This was a task of two halves in the Pantry at the Salvation Army Hall in Welling.

After improvising with a broom-handle to mark out some straight borders, then some careful application of masking tape, Lisa and Martin got busy painting a blackboard on one of the walls. This will be used for messages to visitors at the Pantry.

Meanwhile, across the room, Sue and Sarah applied transfers to liven up the wall on one side of the hall. Those sticky letters were tricky little things and it was more of a dexterity- workout and test of patience than our usual physical activities!

Thank you for having us Katy, and kindly providing cups of tea as we worked and chatted.

One of the joys of GoodGym is the many different things that we get to do. Next week it's something completely different... check out the task listing to see what's coming up.

We made quite a difference to the grounds at Welling Library today.

'Make mine a vodka and Coke.' With nearly fifty empty glass bottles there had clearly been a drinking party at some point! They all went into the recycling bin ♻️.

Then we tackled the weeds and brambles, not easy in the frozen ground 🌱 .

Luckily we were working around the sunny sides of the building and all our activity kept us warm despite the minus temperatures in the shade 🌡.

A little over an hour - and nine bin bags-ful later - we headed to a nearby café for hot drinks and more chatting. The hot chocolate was a well-earned winner!

Elsewhere, GoodGym tourism saw Ashton's litterpicking, and Peter's volunteering at junior parkrun take us to 25 good deeds this month. This means we've already reached our target for the January Challenge 💥!

That's amazing, and great work Team GG Bexley! Can we make it to 50 by the end of the month do you think?

On a cold night when it would have been easy to stay at home, our hardy GoodGymers joined the equally dedicated volunteers from Discover Welling to take down the stickers thanking sponsors of the Welling Christmas lights.

Braving the rain and sleet we split into a group of runners 🏃‍♂️🏃🏻‍♀️ and a group of walkers 🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️, heading in opposite directions along the high street peeling off stickers along the way. When we got to the end we crossed over and came back along the other side of the road doing the same.

The combination of running and walking gave us all a good dose of exercise, and we got the job done in double-time, even before our hands went numb in the cold. ❄️❄️

If you'd like extra motivation to get out and get moving during the winter months, come and join us!

The Rotary Club's Santa Sleigh tours the streets of Sidcup each December and this time we were there to help collect donations and give out sweets to children.🍬

There were lots of children eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa 🎅. Some had drawings for him and others gave mince pies and biscuits to fuel his travels.

And lots of generous people put coins and notes in our collecting buckets. 🪙💷

Our route covered around 3km giving a high step count for our good deeding. The collecting buckets got pretty heavy giving our arms a workout too!

With festive tunes playing from the Sleigh, and so many lights decorating the houses, it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

What a lovely evening we all had decorating the Welling Christmas tree! 🎄

After meeting up with Julie from Discover Welling, we set to work hanging baubles. It was difficult reaching the higher up branches but our trusty litterpicks came in handy and we somehow managed it. We even had some hand-made GoodGym decorations to hang!

Decorating completed, we gathered around the tree for a spot of impromptu carol singing!

We could have stayed longer but needed to litter pick some rubbish from the area and head to see the Christmas House.

What a fantastic display of lights at the house, including the baby Jesus of course!

Our group tasks over the next two weeks have an equally festive feel. We're joining the local Santa Sleighs in Sidcup (next Wednesday) and Welling (the following Wednesday). Ho, ho, hope to see you there! 🎅