Four Goodgym Merton team members made their way to north east Mitcham and tackled a storage mountain during yesterday's group session. The lighter evenings and sunny weather brought out a cheerful crew of runners and cyclists, ready to sort through the overwhelming chaos of bric-a-brac, Christmas decorations, and various other items. We diligently collated, reboxed, and labelled, bringing order to the outbuilding and storage cupboards, proving that many hands make light work (and tidy cupboards!). The centre manager Emily was hugely grateful for our efforts, so hopefully we will return to help out again in the future.

Our third group run was from Raynes Park along the C31 cycle path to New Malden. Once there we headed to Jubilee Square, a great little outdoor community space, to help litter pick and cover the flower beds with woodchip. This was a physical workout that reminded us why we are called Good GYM. Shovelling, wheeling barrows, raking, we took it all in our stride and by the end of the hour the area looked transformed. And it was really nice when passers-by stopped to appreciate our efforts. All that remained was to help project leader Danielle to fit two large wheelbarrows into the boot of her car - so a bit of Krypton Factor to round off the evening. It was great to meet Amy from Kingston and we hope to see her again.

Some of the team headed along to the DLAG networking event, and were asked to give an impromptu speech about our community work on the fly. Grateful of the opportunity to share joy of fitness with purpose, we were equally inspired hearing about the incredible work Dons Local Action Group does in the area. It was a network-worthy morning, and we are looking forward to getting involved in some of the other projects as soon as we can.

For our second group run, our dedicated band of volunteers descended on Martin Way Methodist Church ready to banish grime and spring clean the kitchen!

We tackled the cupboards and fridges with cloths and a selection of cleaning products, plus some rather funky black plastic gloves that someone brought along.

From sticky shelves to dusty corners we meticulously cleaned, organised and returned the contents to their rightful places. Hopefully the various groups that share the space will have us back and we can work on the island and the crockery.