Four GoodGymmers – Jana, Emily, Charles, and Wani – gathered today to bring some extra cheer and colour to Staywell New Malden. We were lucky to have Charles (a volunteer at Staywell) and Wani (a full-time staff member) joining in, so it really felt like a team effort with both sides working together. Armed with a list from Clair, the manager, we set to work: •The tall sunflowers came down to make way for fresh, bright yellow plants to welcome visitors at the entrance. • The hanging baskets were refreshed with a splash of colour. • The front flower beds got some TLC, including a good feed for the beautiful white rose. • Jana tackled some bindweed along the side passage. • Emily and Wani used their eye for colour to coordinate the planting. • And Charles even had time to mow the lawn, leaving everything looking neat and cared for. This was no ordinary task-it was part of the Mayor’s Community Weekend! We joined in the celebrations by putting up bunting and flags, adding a festive touch that advertised the event to passers-by. In just two hours, everything was spruced up and looking welcoming. We left the bunting and flags up for the day centre users to enjoy during the week (weather permitting-fingers crossed the wind and rain play nicely!). A wonderful way to show how teamwork really makes Staywell stay well.

Nightmare on Elm Park

Eight GoodGymers took advantage of a break in the rain to join the Friends of Elm Road Recreation Ground for a tough but rewarding task.

A thick carpet of leaves – and an even thicker layer of compacted soil lurking beneath – has built up along the fences of the children’s playground. Armed with hoes and spades, we fought our way through the matted weeds and nettle roots. Once loosened, the debris was swept, brushed, and bagged up - a lot of squatting and shovelling was needed!

Great to see the pile of filled sacks and the difference at the end. The fences were freed and more space was reclaimed for children to enjoy – without the sting of nettles. A proper transformation.

Fashion Police, Winter Coats & Animal Hats – Another Fun Hour at Growbaby!

This evening, our team of GoodGymmers got stuck into an hour of sorting, organising, and laughing at the always-busy Growbaby charity.

Rachel led the charge and even arranged a donation drop-off from her friend—brilliant teamwork! Levita and Jana channelled their inner fashion critics as they tackled a mountain of baby sleepsuits and snuggle bags. Their keen eyes helped fill three bin bags with items that didn’t make the cut. Honestly, it's always surprising (and sometimes baffling!) what people donate...

Meanwhile, Clair was a whirlwind of productivity, zipping through the stock and making sense of the ever-growing piles of clothes.

There was a moment of light relief when we unearthed some truly fierce animal headgear—cue laughter and an impromptu photo session. We also managed to squeeze in a few stories from summer travels while sorting, proving once again that a bit of chat makes the time fly.

Great work all round, and a big thanks to Rachel for organising another fab task!

It had been a while since our last catch-up, so spirits were high when our GoodGym crew met at the Stay Well Centre in New Malden for a sunny two-hour garden blitz. In attendance were Sabir, Petra, Emily, Jana – and our special four-legged helper, Purdey the dog, who kept a close eye on proceedings (and an even closer eye on the sugary jelly sweets Claire from Stay Well kindly left for us!).

The task list was clear: plant new ferns and grasses in the flowerbed and give the patio a good spruce-up. The soil was rock-hard, so we gave it a good watering before planting. Petra and Emily soon got stuck in digging holes and settling the new plants in for the residents to enjoy. Jana tackled the leaves in the flowerbed and wrapped bags around the pesky bindweed, while Sabir powered through weeding all the way down the pathway.

We also blitzed the patio – the weeds didn’t stand a chance. In no time, it was swept and looking completely transformed. Between the gardening, we had plenty of laughs, stories, and catch-ups, making the work fly by.

Two hours later, we had a weed-free patio, freshly planted beds, and a very happy Purdey. A blooming good afternoon all round!

At Canbury Community Gardens...

A warm welcome to Levita and Caro who joined us at Canbury Community Garden for their first mission. Our tasks included stocking up the water containers with river water ahead of what will be another hot weekend, clearing the overgrown garden paths ready to welcome a local group and harvesting 1.6 kg of baby new potatoes.

Whilst some cutting tools are in need of sharpening to ease clipping long grass and nettles, one of the pruning tools turned out to be quite the opposite! To close the mission head gardener Marilyn offered the team a few 2025 garlic heads and baby potatoes, what a treat 🥔🥔

At the GoodGym plot...

Back at the GoodGym flowerbed a team of Dave, Levita, Sabir and Claire got to work.

Levita and Dave did 3 runs to the river for water to feed the plants whilst Claire cleared the rubbish and leaves and tried to revive some heather’s that had caught the sun.

Then Sabir joined to help fill about 7 wheelbarrows with woodchip to keep the flowerbeds well mulched. With the woodchip spread and the plants fed and watered it was time to leave them to grow. 🌱

Welcome to Levita and Caro and congratulations on completing your on first good deed.

Tonight we had three missions in one! How did we do it? Four of our volunteers went to Refugee Action Kingston to sort the kid's clothes, another went to another RAK office to hang a blind and the rest of us went to Elm Road... phew! Here's the run report about our amazing volunteers...

Nettled but Not Defeated at Elm Road!

In sweltering heat, the GoodGym crew took on the nettle jungle at Elm Road playground, working with the local community group to help reclaim the space for local kids. Armed with spades, forks, and a few poorly chosen gloves (ouch!), we tackled the stubborn roots - some so long they felt like they were heading for Narnia.

Marcos and Tom kept spirits high with sports facts while litter picking, and Rachel captured the action on camera. Newbie John gave it his all but ran out of water - thankfully, local residents came to the rescue with bottles of the good stuff!

Despite roots hiding under the fence, we cleared a massive stretch and even uncovered some old mosaic tiles. One hot, sweaty hour later, the bed was clear and the team absolutely smashed it. Great work all round!

Such a sort out at Refugee Action Kingston

Claire, Anna, Laurel and Sabir ran and walked their way to Refugee Action tonight.

We were greeted by air conditioning which was a welcome relief plus lots of children’s clothes that required sorting. Having made signs for different age categories we sorted the clothes by size for boys and girls and boxed them up so that they could be easily selected by the customers. The area is now much more organised and I’m sure we will be back to tackle the coats another day.

Driller thriller

Dave went to a RAK office to help fix a blind. In his own words has a hot sweaty mess but at least the charity workers won't be now.

GoodGym Kingston - you are simply tri-mendous!