It was a glorious summer evening for our return to Holy Trinity Lamorbey Primary School — greeted with a big smile and warm welcome from Vice Principal, Jane.

This time, we were handed a brand new mission: start to rescue the nursery children's garden, which was looking somwhat sad. Or in Jane’s words, “It’s become a bit of a dumping ground for old outdoor toys and play equipment.”

First, out went the miniature park benches, forgotten play equipment, scattered flower pots, and one lonely compost bin — nicely modeled by Lisa (check the photos for the full fun moment). Some items will be re-homed elsewhere around the school, while other bits were beyond keeping.

Next, we gave the overgrown bushes and plants a much-needed trim so teachers can actually see the children when they’re in the garden — always a bonus in a school setting!

Then we went to war on the weeds. They were stubborn little beasts, poking through the wood chippings and weed membrane like they owned the place. It took some serious heaving and arm-power to get them out until the brilliant discovery that pointed shears = weed-removal magic. Victory!

The added bonus? No clean-up needed! Jane had a genius plan — the Year 6 children would tidy-up the cuttings and sweep the area the next day as part of their Digital Detox Day: a full day of outdoor fun with zero screen time. Win-win!

A big high five to everyone who came along. The garden’s on its way back to being a safe, fun, and leafy little paradise for the nursery children. We're looking forward to continuing its revamp after the summer holidays. 🌼

Words curtesy of Rod Stewart! What a lovely evening it was for tidying the Welling Library . I couldn't believe how much the weeds had grown including nettles! Simon had a great implement to remove them from the side of the building and we soon had it looking brilliant! We were sailing! After a last photo with the piled up sacks we made for home! Until next time.

It was a hot run 🥵 from the Crook Log Leisure Centre tonight, but we arrived to cups of water awaiting us with team member Amanda! We also had the pleasure of meeting the resident ginger cat relaxing in the cool office!

We decided to help in the courtyard garden area by weeding the raised flowerbed, sweeping the paths and watering the plants and lawn 💦.

Resident Joe joined us in cutting back the mint 🍃 and Pamela with cutting the lavender to make fragrant bouquets.

Time went so quickly and the heat subsided into a lovely evening.

We are already looking forward to our next visit!

Wednesday saw us back at Hurst Community Centre, this time to collect litter from around the grounds.

First the car park. Armed with pickers, gloves, and bags we blitzed the rogue crisp packets, stray coffee cups, and cheeky cigarette butts lurking between cars.

Then the rubbish that had accumulated along the boundary walls around the lawn.

Since recce-ing this task the grass had become a thigh-high jungle, and we joked about needing a scythe to cut a pathway though. Still, we swish-swish-swished our way to the wall and started clearing up.

It wasn't long before we realised that sharp grass seeds had launched a stealthy assault on our feet - socks and shoes suddenly felt like they were lined with needles.

To a genuine cry of 'I'm a GoodGymer, get me put of here', we declared a tactical retreat.

Safely out of the grass we took a few minutes to sit down and pluck the spiky seeds from our footwear (and check for ticks).

After a final sweep of the car park to collect more sweet wrappers and rubbish from vacated bays, we headed home.

Prickly grass seeds aside, this was a task full of laughs, storytelling and impromptu trivia snacks. All part of the GoodGym fun.

Note to self: definitely no more wading through long grass on future tasks!

Tried to think of a litter‑picking pun to end this report, but they were all rubbish!

See you next time.

This was our first session at Hook Lane Primary School after they contacted us to ask for some help.

Our group runners (starting from Crook Log Leisure Centre in Welling, and Costa Coffee in Blackfen), along with those arriving directly, met at the school gates where teacher Dan gave us a warm welcome.

The task: put up bamboo screening around the perimeter fence of the school field.

After sawing through a few pesky branches that were in our way, we fell into a good rhythm working in pairs; unrolling the screening between us, then one person holding it with the other fixing it in place. Meanwhile another pair started on the next length.

Threading the cable ties through the canes was a tricky business but after a while we found the knack 👌.

We nearly came a cropper putting up one roll back-to-front, but eagle-eyed Dan spotted our rookie error just in time!

Along with Dan and his brother Sam, we covered a long stretch in our alloted hour.

After a photo opportunity at the fairytale castle, we headed home, some of us running and some walking 🏃🏻‍♀️🏃‍♂️🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️.

It was great having Simon with us for his first GoodGym good deed 🥳.

The school has lots more tasks lined up for our future visits, so why not come along and help make good things happen!

Hope to see you next time.