Once again we gathered at John Scurr Primary School on a Friday night, and as ever, everything was organised perfectly and caretaker Ray was there to greet us.

Our main task was to scrape white paint off a wall - I'm pleased to say it wasn't the same wall we painted white just a few weeks ago.

There was much conversation; mainly we discussed Germany's health system, as you do. It was certainly more interesting than watching paint dry. In fact, scraping paint off a wall is also more interesting than watching paint dry. The skill is to find the low-hanging fruit of paint-scraping-off: i.e. the loose, flaky bits.

At the end, the debris beneath our feet provided evidence of our work. Everyone removed their protective goggles, except me, I wear mine all the time.

Meanwhile, Martin set to work removing blue paint from a wall and pipe. When asked how it looked afterwards, he said "much the same as before". Many an untrue word is spoken in jest...

Six good gymers skated over to the John Scurr primary school to help Ray paint a wall and veranda that had been prepped the previous week. John and Ceiling took up the rollers to paint a wall white which was quite a challenge where the pilaster was falling off. Emma, Charlotte, Lieke and Stephen picked up diddy rollers and painted three grey undercoat on the metal veranda. After an hour we'd made a satisfying difference. Maybe we'll be back again to paint the top coat.

Why didn't the chicken cross the road?

There was a flurry (okay, okay, it had to be done) of anticipatory excitement at the thought of skilfully relocating the chicken coop at John Scurr this evening. But on arrival, Ray informed us that the decision to move the chickens had been put on hold for the moment, over concerns that these noisy, feathered friends may prove to be an undesirable alarm call for local residents in their new spot.

Sand and Deliver

Never ones to complain, the GoodGym crew promptly set about suiting up for the next task: priming the wall for a big paint job. It was all go, with goggles, masks, extendable rollers and disposable aprons. Ray had left no stone unturned ensuring every health, safety, mess and precision box was ticked.

While we waited for the wall to dry, we moved to the next task: sanding the iron structure outside the classroom. This was tougher on the delts, lats and triceps that you'd imagine, and a lower body boost, too, particularly if you fancied climbing to confront the higher beams.

The time sped by, and before we knew it, we were posing for pics in our science dress up.

Same time, same place

Ray was really pleased with what we got done, and wasted no time inviting us back next week.

I'll be there.

Well done, everyone - a thoroughly lovely start to the long weekend.