On a crisp autumn morning, Jane, Helen, Petra, Jana, and Jana’s dad took on the daunting task of clearing the day centre terrace of its leafy blanket. The mission was made especially tricky as we discovered there wasn’t a broom or rake in sight. Armed only with bare hands, we dove in with determination and a good dose of humour.

Before long, our efforts were rewarded, and we cheered as two wheelie bins and three bin bags overflowed with evidence of our hard work. A well-earned tea break followed, where Petra and Jana’s dad kept us entertained with nostalgic stories of growing up in the Czech Republic. The camaraderie made the chilly task feel warm and lively.

However, just as we toasted our progress, a playful gust of wind arrived, scattering a fresh wave of leaves onto the terrace. Undeterred, the team switched gears and began tackling weeds lurking between the paving stones.

One final sweep (by hand, of course!), and we declared victory over the terrace. Huge thanks to the team for their energy, laughter, and hard work. Great job, everyone—until the next round of leaves falls!

Tonight's task was split in two - One team at the Canbury Gardens Community Garden and the other at Kingston GoodGym's plot just a couple of hundred metres away.

Claire, Julie, Marcos and Tom headed to our GoodGym flower bed where we found a big mound of woodchip waiting for us. After clearing away a few pesky weeds that had come up since our last visit, we spread bucketfuls of woodchip around the plants to keep them warm and cosy over winter. We even had some time left over to clear up the surrounding weeds. We left the bed looking lovely and tidy with lots the flowering plants still looking very colourful.

Meanwhile, Luke, Jane, Rachel, Helen & Dave cracked on helping the ever-lovely Marilyn with the Canbury Community Garden. The compost needed turning and a huge pile of vines and plant waste had to be chopped before making it viable for the compost heap. As always, many hands made light work with this task and we were on to the next - pruning some of the larger weeds around the area. It was during this task that we randomly found a massive bag of seafood mix - scallops, fish, octopus, shrimps... One packet, 'sole'ly on it's own - we were all shell-shocked! I'm clamming up about how good these puns are.

A HUGE congrats to Tom on achieving 100 good deeds. You ran with the cape and crown like a champ! King for the day :)

We were all enthralled last night as Elliot Newton, (that is his real name!) the council’s biodiversity officer, showed as smooth newts in the early stages of life (called an eft) at the community pond and garden we were tasked with helping to maintain.

Four GoodGymers ran almost 3km up the hill from the Quaker Centre while four of the gang met at Vine Close. Two key tasks were set. Luke, Tom and Jana helped to clear the blanket weed in the pond - while carefully putting back any baby newts, leeches and water boatman who were hiding in it.

Meanwhile Helen, Emma, Rachel, Dave and new GoodGymer Sara uses hoes and trowels to remove dozens of grass tufts which have taken over the gravel path around the garden.

What a sense of achievement to play a part maintaining this special community site which members of GoodGym Kingston first helped to restore over a year ago.

Congratulations to Sara for completing her first task - we hope you'll join another.

And always a pleasure to be with Elliot who doesn’t let you leave until you’ve learnt a fact or two, spreading his passion for nature to everyone.