GoodGym Kingston attended one of our favourite local charity shops this evening - the Kingston branch of the British Heart Foundation.

After running, walking and cycling to the task, we were met by our BHF task leader, the ever-joking Christine. Before the task even began she decided to give us a quick behind-the-scenes tour of their massive charity shop. BHF Kingston is housed in what was once a huge BHS store and is set over three floors. Christine took us upstairs, through a couple of locked doors and into what used to be the old BHS cafe and kitchens... now looking more like a post-apocalyptic zombie movie set! Slightly glad that I wasn't alone in the space but fascinating all the same.

And so on to the task. We initially thought we would be setting up a fitness window display this evening but a delivery of sports equipment and tennis racquets had failed to arrive in time. Our attention was hence turned to checking if a load of donated exercise machines were functional. This involved running, cycling, rowing and crunching on a few dozen different machines. Quality control completed we moved a few of the machines from the storage room to the main shop floor and made a mini fitness area ready for the customers to peruse when the store opens tomorrow. Mission accomplished.

Helping create window displays for the BHF is always one of the most enjoyable tasks we do and it was no different on Tuesday.

Summer festivals was the request, so a big team of us got to it. Tom, Petra, Anna, Claire, Jana, Dave, Emily, Laurel and Marcos were up into the BHF's 'Narnia' storeroom and the various spaces bringing down chairs, sleeping bags, guitars, a teepee, plastic flowers and everything in between. Special praise to Emily and Anna for somehow assembling a tent in a very tight space!

We seemed to have done such a good job that it was attracting admiring glances from shoppers outside as soon as it was finished. We rounded the task off with a well-earned drink at the Albion for our GoodGym social.

Today 4 of us met to sort out and hang clothes ready to be brought to raise funds for this branch and ultimately funds for the British Heart Foundations Research. We even got to pretend to be models for the day, Did we succeed?

One of GG Kingston's favourite missions this evening: helping the British Heart Foundation at their massive charity shop in Kingston town centre. The task was to create a spring and summer window display.

After a brisk run we arrived at the store and sprung into action. The large window space needed clearing and display items needed gathering. This is part of the fun @ BHF - delving into their gargantuan 'back rooms' of furniture, books, games, ornaments... a hoarders paradise. We collected a load of summer-like items and got our creative juices flowing to plan out a bright and colourful window display.

As is always the way, many hands made light work and we had soon fulfilled the brief, much to the delight of BHF's steadfast manager, Christine.

Welcome to GG Kingston's newest member, Yana. Your creative experience was invaluable tonight! Hope to see you again soon.

On a mission to give pre-loved clothes a second chance, Emily and Jana teamed up with Christine at the British Heart Foundation for an hour of high-speed hanger action!

Armed with a mountain of bin bags, we dove into a treasure trove of donations—ranging from vibrant summer styles to the kind of hardy gear that laughs in the face of windchill. As we sorted and displayed the best (and some of the more… questionable) fashion choices, we kept ourselves entertained with tales of our own outfit triumphs and disasters.

In just 60 minutes, we emptied and hung six whole bags of clothing—proof that a little teamwork goes a long way! There's still plenty more to do, and we can’t wait to return for another round of retail-ready sorting.

Who knew a workout could be so on-trend?

Another trip to the charity shop but this time to a familiar favourite the BHF. As I sorted the items to take I was working out what category and display they belonged to. Hawaiian lays for the festival display along with an air bed and a pirates eye patch, sword and head scarf fit for any fancy dress party window display.