Those who joined us at our last visit to Critical Support will remember the organised chaos of a multi-bank delivery, and this time was no different! We threw ourselves into sorting through the wall of crates, making sure everything was collated and ready for distribution. It's always fun to sift through random items and definitely one of our favourite tasks.

We also started on the wrapping of Christmas presents! Working diligently to prepare as many gifts as possible, although we will be back next month to do more of this.

A huge congratulations to Becca who completed her first session! We hope this is the first of many more missions with us.

What a perfect morning to celebrate a milestone! We marked one year since launching GoodGym Merton by supporting our friends at Morden Parkrun.

The beautiful, crisp morning was ideal for getting out and doing good. Our team embraced various roles, from marshalling the course and handing out finish tokens to expertly managing the funnel. We had an absolute blast cheering on every single walker and runner including several members of the GoodGym team who took on the course themselves!

It was a brilliant, energetic way to celebrate a year of incredible community achievements. Cheers to many more years of getting fit and doing good in Merton!

Well done team and congratulations to Alex and Siobhan on their first Parkrun experience and welcome Siobhan (officially) to the team.

Tonight, the team faced a colossal challenge at Critical Support: as we split into two groups, diving into the chaos. Crate by crate, transforming the overwhelming sprawl into organised piles - first completing the fresh food deliveries, followed by large stacks of clothes, shoes, homeware, and more.

Then came the heavy lifting as we hauled full crates upstairs and carefully tackled a quick round of repacking. This was crucial for maximising the space and ensuring the crates could be safely stacked.

With a final push and an "all hands on crates" effort, the job was done!

The warehouse was almost spotless and impressively organised - far exceeding what most of us thought possible in the time available. A huge welcome to Tori on a fantastic first task! Well done, everyone; the teamwork was absolutely amazing. We were truly "crate"!

The earlier downpour had luckily abated for the monthly volunteering morning at the garden. We enjoyed a varied session, which included weeding the raspberry patch, turning the compost, mulching, taming the sage and lemon balm and even litter picking, where Rob got lucky and found a decapitated Action Man. It was also a day for spotting wildlife, with eight newts seen in the compost pile, a friendly robin and even a mouse. It was lovely to see Alyson back with us and to meet a potential new recruit in Laura. Rob stayed on to help with more mulching and did a sterling job (observed from the comfort of the cafe, but don’t spill the beans!)