One very hot bank holiday Monday and a small but perfectly formed (some might say elite) team of five GoodGymers ran 6km to Alexander Care Home in East Sheen this week. Whilst Mark took a well-deserved break, we kept the Richmond GoodGym train rolling, committed as ever to providing some warm-up entertainment to the Wholefoods crowd before setting off to do some good.

Alexander Care Home is a small residential home for 16 residents, some of whom we met on our way through the lounge to their rather well-appointed garden. This is a new location for the Richmond team and Donna gave us a warm welcome along with some much-needed hydration before encouraging us to get stuck into some weeds. It has to be said, this weeding task was rather gentler than our usual battles with Himalayan Balsam, sticky willy and stinging nettles. And there were no rats this time (small mercies!). Although, Giulia and Graeme did lay waste to a swathe of long grasses amidst some particularly thorny rose bushes and Samia went head-to-head with a weed patch stubbornly rooted in the paving stones (the weed patch won). Meanwhile, Suganthinie, dropping in from Ealing GoodGym (lovely to have you join us!), was determinedly rooting out weeds in hidden away corners.

Alexander Care Home, your garden was already so very tidy, but, not to be defeated, we filled a large bucket with whatever weeds we could find. We hope your residents get a few more warm summer days to enjoy their outdoor space.

Good work, team, for making it out on a sweltering August bank holiday evening, when a cold beer by the river could have been so much more inviting. And kudos especially to Graeme for coming along with Giulia, not only upping our recent male representation by 100% but also coming up with the pun. You can come again.

P.s. Mark’s back next week, so get your hill-legs ready just in case…