Tonight we were off into the unknown at the Save The World Club. As they had collected various items to stop them from going to landfill it meant that there was a lot to sort out before moving premises.

After a brisk run / cycle there our first task was pretty simple moving chairs, bookcases, tables and sideboards downstairs ready to load on to the van. Luke, Tom and Dave tackled the heavy items whilst Ana, Ana, Claire, Raquel, Amreet and Emily moved all the drawers and chairs.

Mission accomplished we headed into the dark to see what was lurking outside. There was a bonfire for paper and wood that we uncovered and a shed full of paint pots that needed moving out.

We also filled the skip with an assortment of items that couldn’t be recycled from envelopes to plastic wrapping and a weird candelabra decoration.

At the last moment Des arrived with the van so we were able to load it up on our way out so that the furniture could find new homes.

Happy Bonfire night Sabir 🔥

One of GoodGym Kingston's more frequent and favourite task venues this evening... back to help at Growbaby.

Growbaby are an amazing charity that provides good quality, new and second-hand, baby clothes and equipment completely free of charge to anyone who needs it regardless of their income, background, or faith.

Tonight we had a few jobs to tick off the list... - Claire & Marcos and Dave got busy sorting out the multiple mattresses and cots that needed to be matched up and labelled. - Luke and Amreet sorted out the huge toy library, neatening up all the board games and disposing of any broken toys and random parts - Anna sorted out some of the clothes donations, pairing shoes and ensuring they were stored in the right age group - Raquel organised the bookcase and made room for the multiple new book donations - Dave checked the sell-by-dates and stacked baby powders and other food items - Rachel kept us all in check!

Safe to say we completed a load of tasks within the hour and left Growbaby in a much more organised state than when we found it!

Use-by dates. Not always applied at home, provided something passes the sniff test or hasn’t gone green, but an important factor at Kingsgate Student Pantry.

Much of this fun task involved a brilliant turn out of GoodGym members going through the various items donated to the student food bank.

Ken, Marcos, Rachel, Jana, Jacqui and Ana all got stuck in straining their eyes on packets to make sure everything was safe to consume. Dave used some elbow grease to clean the freezer while Claire and Julie did the same in the kitchen.

Luke and Tom, meanwhile, very nearly consigned 50kg of lentils to the dustbin when nearly mistaking the date they were packed for the use-by. Mistake amended, they were reassigned to smaller packets, with the bag sealer getting a thorough outing.

A fun task and a warm welcome from the Kingsgate team before we reconvened at the Albion

Our Tuesday group run took us to the Kingston Environment Centre to help Pat tidy up and sort out the community hall. There was a traffic jam which made getting to our meeting point tricky for some - Sevan got a stride on and caught up with our group of runners after we had started running, Tara had to forego the run and meet us there and sadly Jassy was stuck so long on the A3 she didn't make it to the task at all! Hopefully the traffic won't be quite as bad next week.

As soon as we arrived, Pat had written a list of jobs on a chalkboard that we powered through - moving a gazebo, breaking down boxes, sweeping leaves and weeding. Big grey clouds threatened rain but fortunately we didn't get caught in any downpours - even though the garden desparately needed it. The light soon faded as our hour was up but not before a brilliant pink, hazy sunset.

A big welcome to Micheal on his first GoodGym task and to Amreet for her second. Hope you enjoyed the task - see you soon!