It was party time at Parkview Care Home, and we were there to help with the preparations!

There were trestle tables to put up, patio chairs to wipe down and bring indoors, tables to be moved aside, serviettes to be folded, plates to be put out, and festive hats to be given out.

All of this set to a Christmas tunes playlist, and lots of chatting with the residents.

After a spin around the room with the drinks trolley, it was time for us to head off with cheery "merry Christmas!" wishes as we said our goodbyes.

Welcome to GG Bexley, Bassey. We're glad to have you with us now you've moved to our patch from Croydon.

Volunteering as a barcode scanner at parkrun, supporting runners at the finish line and helping the event run seamlessly.

We spent time litter picking around Lesnes Abbey, the surrounding paths and woods, helping to keep this historic green space clean and enjoyable for everyone.

What a glorious sunny morning for our final session of the year at the Community Hospice, working alongside head gardener, Jason 🌞🌿.

Today we embarked on new project, to take out a series of Buddleja davidii plants - aka 'The Butterfly Bush' - in a patch of ground that will eventually become a new flower bed. Big plants, big plans!

But what about the butterflies you might say? Jason explained that Buddleja is an invasive species and having been left untended these shrubs need to go. There are plenty more insect-friendly plants in the garden to support biodiversity.

So, for starters we cut back the branches. Sophie took charge of the telescopic loppers, reaching the lofty heights, while the rest of us tackled the lower growth.

Then it was out with the saws to cut through the thicker main stems. Such a buzz when each big portion came out and the view through to the area behind started to emerge.

Finally, lots of cutting with secateurs into smaller pieces from our felled timber, ready for the compost heap. This bit was surprisingly relaxing, just snipping and chatting.

Meanwhile, across the garden Rachel and our youngest helper carefully weeded a border. What a difference they made too.

Afterwards a few of us headed to the Hospice cafeteria for lunch, and some cute penguin biscuits.

That's one Buddleja down... just five more to go! Fancy lending a hand next time? We’d love to see you there 🌱💪

Wow! what a great night we had collecting for the Community Hospice with Santa and the Bexley Rotary Club.

There was an army of volunteers out on the pavements tonight including our own GoodGymers, the Mayor of Bexley and her driver, air cadets and even a pooch 🐕.

Santa looked spectacular in his sleigh waving at all the local residents that had come out of their homes to catch a glimpse and throw their odd coins, sometimes notes, into the collection buckets. People were very generous I must say!

As well as a great atmosphere, it was great exercise. Check out Julie's fitness data in the photos!

Well that's it, until next year when we can do it all again!

Merry Christmas to you all!

For our midweek task this week, we were back at Holy Trinity Lamorbey Primary School where we tackled the Art Cupboard of Doom 😱.

Some of us ran from the leisure centre, while others made their own way there. We were greeted by the school’s vice principal, Jane, and her gorgeous dog Brecon, who spends one day a week helping out in classrooms.

Brecon kept a close eye on our antics as we got to grips with the task at hand: emptying the long-neglected, overstuffed art cupboard, ferrying everything into a spare classroom next door ready to be sorted and reorganised by the school's art teachers.

And there was certainly a lot to move!

We came across every kind of art, craft, and D&T material you’d expect to find 🎨🖌️⚙️✂️, and some unexpected items too, including two vintage weather-display boards (likely from the 1970s), a small bongo drum, and a little paint-smudged teddy that had clearly slipped behind the shelves and been long-since forgotten.

Between trips, we took turns throwing Brecon’s ball along the corridor, keeping her happily occupied in an endless game of fetch.

Just one hour later, after plenty of back-and-forth and the occasional exclamation from Jane, “Oh, so that’s where that went", "I was looking for that last week!” and “Why would anyone have kept that?!”, it was mission accomplished. We'd cleared the cupboard and filled a stack of bin bags with bottles of dried-up plaster paints, set-hard paintbrushes, and rock-solid modelling clay.

In the new year, we hope to return to take down some of the old shelving and give the cupboard a fresh coat of paint to complete its Cinderella-like transformation into a clean and usable space once more. ✨