There was lovely party atmosphere helping at The Community Hospice's Boogie Wonderland fundraiser.

We were on cloakroom duty, along with Carl, one of the Hospice's regular volunteers.

Having perfectly organised the hangers and sorted out all the cloakroom tickets, we were all set for guests to arrive. 🧥🥼

Who knew that checking in coats would include so much chat, fun and laughter? and there was plenty of time to enjoy a drink and a spot of dancing. 🕺🕺🏼

Lovely to have Karen with us, congratulations on your first GoodGym task. 🥳

Our monthly session with the Friends of Danson Park is usually a good workout, and this morning was no exception.

We got active shoveling woodchips into barrows and wheeling them to the North Woodland Walk. There we raked them along the path to prevent a mudfest in the winter months. 💪💪💪

Our youngest GoodGymers helped us cover an impressive length of the walk. Then it was time to enjoy a hot drink kindly provided by The Stables.

The Friends are taking a break in December but we'll be back in January to tackle the rest of the path.

When the manager of Sidcup's British Heart Foundation shop asked us for help publicising the re-opening of their new-look store, we were there in a heartbeat ❤️.

We hit the high street to tell shoppers about the grand re-opening on Tuesday, and all the great pre-loved stock on offer.

We wish the BHF team all the best for their big day.

Our team of four arrived at 7pm sharp to begin the task of tidying up the front and side areas around the library in Welling.

Being GoodGym, we had made our way either running, walking or by bike to add a little additional exercise into the task in hand. 🏃🏻‍♀️🚶‍♂️🚴‍♀️

The weeds and litter were immediately evident and this did at first appear to be a gargantuan task! However once we got started it didn’t take long to begin to see a difference.

Sarah and I set to work at the front; weeding, litter picking, sweeping and generally sprucing the entrance up.

Martin set to work with his gloves and bag to attack the litter and weeds.

The brambles on the side path looked insurmountable but, undaunted, Sue soon had them in hand and did a sterling job hacking them back with her loppers!

Once we’d finished at the front we helped the others tidy the side area and swept and bagged up all the weeds. Five sack-loads in an hour.

Time to run home and reflect on the task. Hard work but rewarding. We had many passers by looking with interest at what we were doing and the highlight for us was the gentleman that stopped and simply said, “Thank you so much”.

Great work team!

Karen and I arrived at 4pm and met with Sue at the Boathouse. We were joined by Rich and Martin and also Thembi and another volunteer from London Borough of Bexley (who were working alone and asked to join us) so we made up a group of 7 hi viz heroes along with many others including Zahra from Mencap with her team and a huge group of Army Cadets and Police Cadets.

We were briefed by Danny, one of the event organisers. Our role was to be a presence in and around the event, answer questions about toilet facilities, location of the firework display, first aid, lost property hub and how to deal with incident referrals such as lost children and trouble. Which I am happy to report there was none!

We had access to 50% discounts on food trucks up until the park opening at 5pm which some of us took advantage of. Along with free tea, coffee, cold drinks, sweets and snacks in the volunteers marquee. We made ourselves a coffee then had a walk around the site to familiarise ourselves with the pricing and locations of everything.

After this we had a bit of free time to enjoy the rides ourselves. Three of us went on the ghost train and were confronted at every dark corner with ghouls and ghosts galore! Karen then suggested the waltzer. My school girl error was to tell the twister man not to twist me. Of course I came off feeling a bit dizzy and green and my head was pounding. My suggestion for a “ride” was the mirror maze. Sue and I managed to get out reasonably quickly however Martin was disappearing further in but eventually escaped unscathed.

We then spent an hour or so walking the site and answering questions from the visitors.

Whilst we waited for the fireworks and made ourselves available near the main thoroughfare for people entering the park we had a dance, led mainly by Sue, to some of the tunes being played by the resident DJ from Maritime Radio. He spotted us and came over to talk to us about how we got involved. Karen explained that we were part of the Mencap cohort and I told him a little bit about Goodgym and the exercise and good deeds ethos of the group. He invited Goodgym to come along to the live radio show to accept one of their monthly “Hearts of Gold” awards. An unexpected bonus for sure!!

Soon after this the countdown to the fireworks began. A rousing first explosion of colour was accompanied musically by “The Greatest Show” followed by a plethora of different fireworks, small, large, curly, sparkly, loud bangs, whistles and dancing stars. Finishing with an absolutely beautiful crescendo of red and white chrysanthemums across the night sky.

A bit more dancing was on the cards and we led some of the visitors in the Cha Cha slide!!! After handing in our hi viz jackets and a bit of lost property we’d been given we were free to leave.

Such a great way to see the fireworks but more importantly to give something to the local community. Not money but time, which can of course be equally precious with the busy lives we lead.

Lisa Baxter

We joined the Friends of Lesnes Abbey and Woods for their monthly conservation session.

We were working on the heathland which meant a looooong, and at times pretty steep, climb pushing two wheelbarrows full of tools to the top.

After instructions about what to do and how to use the tools safely, we set about cutting back the holly so that the indiginous heather can thrive and reclaim the area.

It was a nice chance to chat with the other volunteers and enjoy being outdoors in a gorgeous setting. 🍁🍃🍂

We had to leave before the official end time, but that's not a problem at this friendly task. You can stay as long or as little as you like.

We'll be back next month. Hope to see you there!