Last night team Hounslow met in the hottest room in the world - we thought about sticking around to do some hot yoga, but nothing comes between a GoodGymer and their run.

It was a small but perfectly formed group last night, but as everybody knows, good(gym) things come in small packages. We said a huge well done to Barry who nailed his first Park Run, and is well on his way to a very speedy time. Way to go! We also had a lovely GG visitor from Wandsworth, hello Ella! Got to love a bit of GG tourism.

We did a few warm ups including the ever popular ski jumps and then set off on our way to Friends of Cathja, a charity shop which are slowly (very) but surely helping clear. Who did we bump into on the way, flying down the road in a blaze of GG red but Andy! Lovely job.

We made it down to the charity in record time this week, which just goes to show that all our speed training is paying off. This week our job was 'attack the ramp', which involved clearing an enormous pile of donations and other bits and pieces off the access ramp to the shop. With Angela directing us either to find a new home for various bags, or instructing us to 'throw it over the top', we were soon making very good headway, and trying not to think that one day soon we might be having to go and retrieve the bags we tossed so gleefully over the donation mountain. There were mentions of the job being a bit like 'sweeping the desert', but GoodGym neevr gives up and we won't be done until the whole place is sparkling!

There were no furry friends this week, much to Ella's (and my) relief, but we did manage to find a giant spider which kept reappearing in various spots around the place. It might have to be our new GG Hounslow mascot.

Before long the ramp was clear and perfectly swept, and we set off back to Chiswick Town Hall. Barry and Andy led the way in very impressive style, and we made it back in less time than it took for us to get there, which is great going after a good 40 minutes of working hard at the task. Brilliant work, everybody. As we were stretching, Ella told us about a distressing incident that happened to her this week. She was walking down the street and somebody threw a lump of cheese at her head. What sort of world are we living in? Luckily our Ella dealt with it sensibly. She just turned around and said, 'That's mature.'

Next week we have one more trip to Friends of Cathja. If you fancy going to find that spider again - as well as making a big difference to your borough and getting fitter - then join me, and sign up here! Looking forward to it already...have a happy week everyone.

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/helping-out-in-hounslow-plus-getting-fit