Tonight’s GoodGym adventure took our group in two directions - to Canbury Community Gardens and Latchmere Park.

The Latchmere Park task was quite straightforward - fill 5 planters with compost. Just a small matter that the compost was in 3 1/2 ton sacks about 100m away from the planters! Emily, Ken, Laura, Petra and Dave donned their gloves and proceeded to fill and empty countless wheelbarrows. the time flew and the task completed with 5 mins to spare. Off to the pub!

Slightly more involved at Canbury Gardens with compost to turn, an elderflower tree to tackle, watering to do and gardening to squeeze in before darkness descended.

Claire kicked things off with an excellent briefing, particularly impressive given the jet lag from her recent trip to Korea! Rachel then provided an unexpected highlight by confidently picking up one of the resident chickens. Despite never having held a chicken before, she looked like a natural, comparing it to picking up her three-legged cat. The chicken seemed perfectly content! 🐔

Luke, Saber and Jonathan got stuck into turning the compost, while also attempting to secretly sign Rachel’s birthday card without her noticing.

Meanwhile, Jana and Marie-Noëlle gave the dead elderflower tree a giant haircut. Marie-Noëlle wielded the enormous loppers on the larger branches, carefully avoiding the tomatoes below, while Jana tackled the smaller ones. Saber later took over with a saw and ended up up the tree, prompting a few concerned looks as we watched his balancing act! 🌳😂

Claire tracked down the wheelbarrows and collected water from the river with Rachel, who later became our human lighting department as daylight disappeared.

Jana then tackled one final job, digging a hole for a donated berry bush, which we just about managed to get planted and watered before darkness took over. 🌱

With everything wrapped up, Claire entertained us with tales from Korea.

Compost turned, tree dramatically restyled, water collected, bush planted, chicken cuddled and birthday card covertly signed, another productive and slightly chaotic GoodGym evening! 💪🌿🐔

Saber and Petra met Brian at Hogsmill garden to help cutting back the hedges after a long summer break. Both hedge trimmers fully charged, job got done in no time, making the inner path between hedges and flower beds once again clear for people to use. See you in a month.

Today we were on a mission at KCAH! A team of us headed over to help sort through tons of amazing donations for both men and women. Armed with shiny new storage containers and plenty of energy, we smashed through the pile - organizing toiletries, hygiene kits, shoes, and clothes for both summer and winter.

KCAH is an incredible organization doing vital work in Kingston, offering a massive range of services to help people experiencing homelessness find stable housing and rebuild their lives. 🏠❤️

Our host was super pleased with how fast we worked. The storage cupboard is now looking beautifully tidy, organized, and ready for the team to help their clients!

A job well done! 🙌

Adam & Petra attended to GG's regular monthly task. This time, met by Julie who had the tools ready for us - charged & sharpened. With the all the rain we have had, there was a lot of cutting back needed to clear the public path on the outside as well as the path along the flowerbeds. Adam's first visit to Hogsmill, thanks for coming along. See you in a month.

Something a bit different on a boiling hot evening as it was all aboard the Thames Venturer for a clean-up.

The lovely old vessel, part of the River Boat Project as a floating classroom to teach children about the water, does get a bit dusty during the winter.

Petra, David and Dave were off sweeping and washing the deck, while Tom and Rachel cleaned the windows. Marcos, JP, Claire and Laura gathered fresh water to fill the tank on the boat with relay visits back to Teddington Lock Island.

Fun to be on the water in a lovely setting and hope to be back again another time. And welcome David on his first task.