This was the church's monthly volunteering session and as ever Abby had lots of jobs for us to do, including weeding, watering, planting out an area under the laurel tree and turning the compost. The latter was tough work but Williams did a great job, while Clare shared her gardening expertise with the rest of us. We were joined by Penny, the very cute schnoodle, and refreshed with squash and banana bread. It's been lovely to see this garden blooming over the past few months.

It's always fun helping out at Deen City Farm as we get to visit the animals and support the team with practical jobs. This afternoon Goodgym members from Merton, Wandsworth, Croydon and Ealing stopped by to help decorate for the Barn Dance.

It was great to see some new faces and chat a little as we got busy with bunting, gazebo building, and plenty of creative touches to make the venue look yeeee-ha!

Congratulations to Steve on your first Goodgym task and we hope to see everyone again very soon.

The team was on a mission to move a mountain of soil from the pavement to the beds on the platform! We didn't quite crack the logistics of timing the bucket filling with carrying and delivering along the platform, but we certainly got a great workout from all the shoveling, lifting, and climbing up the steps. We also enjoyed the added bonus jobs of sweeping up spillages both on and off the platform (oops!) and some watering up on the embankment. It was a productive evening and a great opportunity for a social afterwards in the nearby Raynes Park Tavern to meet everyone properly.

The promised sunshine never appeared but that didn't dim our enthusiasm in the community garden. It's positively blooming at the moment, with brightly coloured flowers, and all sorts of herbs, veg and fruit in abundance, and a group of young children were enjoying a nature-inspired workshop. We were mostly weeding and tidying the space under Sarah's trusty supervision. It was great to meet Rob, who was previously a Goodgymer in Bath, and welcome him to Merton.

This is always a really good session, even if it is located at the top of a steep hill (that's where the gym element comes in!) Task number one was moving some wooden sleepers into position to make an area to grow ‘edibles’ , clearing away wood chip and then spreading compost in the bed. There were also a couple of shrubs to move and a couple to remove, some relocating of plants plus general tidying and watering. Maggie kept us busy and the refreshments manager (aka Maggie’s husband) kindly ensured we stayed hydrated and fuelled with ginger beer, pomegranate juice and ice creams! The unexpected spots of rain didn’t dampen our spirits and it was great to welcome Henry to his first task.