Florence, Jules and I went along to help clear up after the annual Cat Patrol Christmas event at St Jude's Church.

As was the case last year, the event volunteers had a lot of the packing up under control, but we were glad to be able to assist with sweeping the large halls, emptying some of the bins and giving a bit of love and attention to the star of the show, Darwin the cat.

Darwin had spent the afternoon greeting visitors alongside Santa himself, so didn't seem too keen when we asked for a photo, but it had to be done.

Rachel spent a few days dodging the showers to deliver leaflets for an upcoming Cat Patrol fund-raising event. Aided by two honorary GoodGymers from home, 11 roads in Mapperley Park were covered, taking in plenty of hills, steps, long driveways, dogs and finger-pinching letter boxes.

Leah and Rachel went along to help clear up after the Cat Patrol Rescue Christmas Bazaar. The event was winding up when we arrived (Santa was just leaving!) so we got straight on with helping to collapse and stack the tables, sweep the floors and bag up the rubbish. Leah also turned her hand (or foot) to balloon popping.

In 50-minutes or so we were done and dusted and ready to head on our way. We were glad that we could help out this fantastic charity and the volunteers were very grateful after a busy day. The event riased about £1500!

One of the organisers, Tanya, said 'You were both amazing, and so very helpful, after doing the event all day we were all a little exhausted, and you also provided some entertainment whilst popping the balloons…'.

Thank you to Tanya and Zoey for having us!