It was a last-minute change of plans, but that didn’t stop this dedicated GoodGym crew from getting out and spreading the word about Kingston’s newest community initiative—Park Play!

With the Albany session cancelled, we quickly regrouped and set our sights on Fairfield Recreation Ground, ready to let the locals know that Saturday mornings were about to get a whole lot more fun.

Splitting into teams, we tackled the nearby streets, armed with flyers and boundless enthusiasm. Jana, Rachel, and Raquel formed one squad, Luke, Anna, and Martel took on another route, while Dave, Emma, and Clare covered even more ground. The mission? Get those flyers through as many letterboxes as possible—without losing any fingers to enthusiastic canine guardians!

Top tip of the night? Use a wooden spoon to safely post through letterboxes. Unfortunately, we had none. So, with a mix of courage and caution, we did it the old-fashioned way.

Despite the clear skies, a sharp chill in the air had us all working at double speed. But nothing warms a GoodGym session like teamwork, good vibes, and a post-flyering trip to the pub! Drinks were raised, food was enjoyed, and plans were made for the next adventure.

Park Play is set to bring people together for fun and games every Saturday—so spread the word, and we’ll see you there!

Over the weekend several goodgymers from different areas did a food drop.

On a glorious sunny Sunday morning, we gathered at Staywell Day Centre with 2 hours on the clock and a mission: to give the vegetable patch, flower beds, and driveway a good weeding makeover! Armed with trowels, gloves, and an eagerness to get stuck in, Amy, Alexis, Farzeen, Emily, and Jana wasted no time diving into the task.

As we worked, conversations flowed freely, with stories exchanged about our professions and daily lives. A highlight of the day was hearing about Emily's exciting news: she’s being presented with a prestigious Majors award tomorrow evening! We all shared in her excitement, which certainly helped lift the atmosphere as we tackled some particularly stubborn weeds.

At the halfway mark, we took a well-deserved break to recharge with biscuits and chocolate. Standing back, we admired our progress so far.

With renewed energy, we powered through the rest of the time, determined to make the residents proud of their newly spruced-up outdoor spaces. By the end of the session, the transformation was complete, and we couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment as we surveyed the clean, tidy garden and weed-free driveway.

It was a fantastic day of teamwork, sunshine, and stories for a worthy cause, leaving us all with smiles (and maybe a little mud) on our faces!

We had a lovely group run to Kingston Surplus Food Hub. It's a new initiative set up by Kingston Voluntary Action to help tackle food waste and poverty in the area. A significant amount of food is bought in by supermarkets and wasted so the idea is to set up a kitchen to absorb some of these ingredients and turn it into delicious food for the community. It's not up and running yet and we were asked to help to prepare the kitchen and the outside area to get it up to a certain standard - and so we did.

Claire, Emily, Jana, Rachel and Emma all tackled to the kitchen - picking sticky glue marks off the walls and scrubbing them down. There were three rooms in total but the amount of work that was needed meant that we only managed two rooms out the three. Dave, Luke and Kieran were out in the car park - moving branches and green waste. A big tidy up by all.

So much to do and the hour went quickly by. We had a great laugh doing it - we'll be back to help in a couple of months.

A nice new venue for this week's Group Run in familiar surroundings as we were back in Canbury Gardens, but this time at the Pavilion.

Bazil from Canbury Community Trust explained that the little hall can keep solvent as a venue for various good causes by hosting children’s parties at the weekends. This means that their plastic tables and chairs take a bit of a pasting.

So our session was spent with Jade, Emma, Emily, Luke, Tom, Rachel, Dave, Jana and Marcos rolling up their sleeves and scrubbing the dirt, luminous pen marks and various unthinkable substances from their surfaces. Tables quickly turned back to a bright white.

Actually a fun task and something a bit different. And a tip for future cleaning emergencies. Who knew that 'Autoglym' and 'Muc-off’ sprays could be so efficient?

On a mission to give pre-loved clothes a second chance, Emily and Jana teamed up with Christine at the British Heart Foundation for an hour of high-speed hanger action!

Armed with a mountain of bin bags, we dove into a treasure trove of donations—ranging from vibrant summer styles to the kind of hardy gear that laughs in the face of windchill. As we sorted and displayed the best (and some of the more… questionable) fashion choices, we kept ourselves entertained with tales of our own outfit triumphs and disasters.

In just 60 minutes, we emptied and hung six whole bags of clothing—proof that a little teamwork goes a long way! There's still plenty more to do, and we can’t wait to return for another round of retail-ready sorting.

Who knew a workout could be so on-trend?