It finally time for some warmer outdoor sessions and Wednesday was the perfect day for it!

We have been working with Walthamstow Toy Library for a while and have completed many an indoor task but this week we had the pleasure of completing some weed trimming and seed scattering around the grounds.

As usual, we arrived to a warm welcome from Helen who provided us with a range of tools and gloves to get to work on the overgrown bushes pushing through the fence. We made quick work of trimming this down to manageable lengths before moving onto the weeds lining the pavement.

In between tugs of weeds, we came across seed bombs encased in clay that had failed to dissolve in the soil. Between Ramon's recommended foot twisting mechanism and a few whacks with the tail ends of our tools, we were able to break them apart and redistribute them along the soil beds and will hopefully be singing some wildflowers sprouting soon.

3 plastic bins filled to the brim with weeds and some very good conversation later, we could stand back and admire the fruits of our (relatively) intense labour.

Our task was made considerably more entertaining by some of the unbelievable Alpaca facts dropped by Sarah, so if you are looking to learn some wildlife facts while spending some time in the great outdoors, be sure to look out for our next task!

Hurrah! Another trip for GGWF to Walthamstow toy library with the lovely Helen C.

After a short run there, we (Alex, Charlotte, Ramon, Ercole, Dan, and another Helen for good measure) met at the task, and finished off with some hill reps (ok, the stairs). For Ercole, this was a walk in the park after 40 reps of the Springfield Park mound today!

Our task? Sorting out fancy dress into categories.

Dear Reader, this may seem simple, but let me assure you, that this task could be over thunk. Especially with yours truly around. Do all the princess costumes go in the Disney pile? What about Star Wars costumes, aren’t those owned by Disney now?! Shall we keep all the cowboy/sheriff costumes together with Buzz costumes? Robin Hood- historical figure or fictional character? Will mixing Marvel and DC superhero costumery cause a rip in the fabric of the space-time continuum?! And, arrrrrrrrrrrrr these trousers piratical 🏴‍☠️ enough to go here?! We pondered all these, AND MORE.

But mostly we had a very jolly time, with some outstanding dressing up and accessorising (although worth remembering what Coco Chanel said (@Ramon) about taking off the last thing one puts on!

And I’m afraid there were devastating scenes breaking the news to one GoodGymmer that the unicorn 🦄 costume belonged in the “mythical creature” costume pile, and not the “animal” pile. Ercole, we hope you’re doing ok now..

Anyway, fairly speedily we had things categorised and wrapped up, faster than you can say “professional web-slinger, coming through!”.

Reader, our task was done. We helped with locking up, and sped off into the (Dark K)night.

“On 29th February, 3 Waltham Forest GoodGymmers leapt at this task 😊.

The toy library needed our help once again, and we were only too happy to oblige. After a short, very wet run to Greenleaf Church meeting point and on to the toy library, our spirits remained undampened. We received a warm welcome from manager Helen, and the lovely Robin. Once inside, after offloading a donation of sippy cups from FBN Towers, we got to work.

Our task? BALL CLEANING. As any fool know, ball pits are widely known to be a horrifically veritable soup of immune-challenging microbial diversity and snot gloopery. At the toy library though, their balls are (impressively) cleaned weekly, so, as balls go, these were pretty hygienic! We attacked the task with gusto, much like toddlers at the toy library play sessions snack time, only with fewer crushed breadsticks and squished raisins involved.

Disclaimer- it’s almost impossible to write a report about cleaning balls without some suggestion of deliberate double entendre. I can assure you that any whiff of this is purely coincidental, so any smuttiness is therefore your own problem!

So, where were we? Yes, Sarah and Natasha set about washing those balls thoroughly with hot soapy water, and I patted them dry with a towel, with help from Robin. Lovely. We finished the task in what seemed like no time whilst we chatted (taking care to discard any squashed balls).

Helen gave us a tour of their lovely newish premises (previously the Limes), including impeccably well-organised and categorised toy rooms, swap shop, and sensory room. Great to see the toy library thriving and growing under Helen’s consistently awesome leadership.

We finished and tidied up, popped the towels in the washing machine, and headed off separately into the night. We hope to see you again soon at the toy library!”

This evening's task was a lovely indoor one on behalf of Walthamstow Toy Library.

After a short run from Greenleaf Road Baptist Church, we met up at the Toy Library to help organise donations of baby clothes, maternity clothes, toys and other items to make new-parent life easier.

What initially seemed like a mammoth task soon began to move smoothly as we figured out a system for organising clothes into 0-3 month, 3-6 months, 6-12 months and 12 - 24 months. Careful not to get distracted by the tiny hats and babygrows, we were able to make piles to go neatly into the newly constructed storage system, ready to be distributed to new parents, while making space for further donations.

As tasks goes, spending an evening cooing and marvelling at just how tiny baby clothes really are isn't too bad!

There will be more tasks at the Walthamstow Toy Library over the coming weeks, so if this sounds like fun, keep an eye on the website for more!

My first task in my birth town, and a solo one at that! I met Helen from the Toy Library and we got to work sorting some of the toys in storage, separating out the older ones to be recycled, and putting like toys together.

I set about tidying up the musical toys and made a whole box of xylophones! Task number 2 was to work through a bag of shape sorter boxes and check they had all their shapes. I reunited a lost shape with its box, which was nicely satisfying.

It was really nice to visit the Toy Library again (it’s been about three decades since my last loan, I’m told…!), and I hope to help again soon.

Three good gymers dropped by the Walthamstow toy library for their first session of 2023 ✨

We met with Helen, who runs the toy library, and she put us to task helping clean borrowed toys so they were ready for the next use. This meant scrubbing a lot of balls!

And we were lucky enough to have two newcomers among us - welcome to Bea and Alex! 🦸🏻