They love us those weeds do at the ETNA community centre in St Margaret’s. They just keep coming back again and again, like they can’t wait for GoodGym to pay them a visit. And so we did on Monday night with seven weather-defying GoodGymers, including two lovely newcomers, Ruth and Judi, and the glorious-in red Giulia returning for her second GoodGym run. This time we also came with several weed busting packs of heavy duty mulch which we lifted, tossed and raked til we could see weeds no more. Some of us also got in a bit of Tug of War practice with some of the more persistent roots (‘…are you sure that’s not part of the tree, Victoria…?’) ahead of Friday’s competition outside the Eel Pie pub in Twickenham. Talk about multi-tasking!

Actually, talking about multi-tasking, Mark had us double-tasking again this week (there’s just too much good to do in Richmond). He gathered us together mid-mulch to load us up with FOUR leaflets to distribute around the neighbourhood. We were spreading the word about Vocal Tonix, a community singalong group; a garden party at Trumpeter’s House raising money for INS (Integrated Neurological Services); The Volunteer Fair at Richmond Adult Community College, which promotes different volunteering opportunities in the borough; and a fundraising event for The Holly Lodge Centre which provides educational activities for children and people with disabilities within Richmond Park. Phew. Quite a mouthful and quite a handful, but all very worthy causes.

So off we jogged, doing some complicated callanetics with our fingers to hold the different piles of leaflets in place, whilst a squally rainstorm settled around our little corner of West London just to make it more interesting for us. Mark waved us off from his garden hut at ETNA promising to tidy up and do a bit more mulching whilst we were gone, although we can’t be sure he didn’t just take shelter inside, put the kettle on and have a cup of tea. After all, he might have needed a little pick me up after The Key Incident (that’s when Jenna said ‘the hut key was just there, Mark,’ pointing towards a clearly key-less kerbside. Oooooh, you know how Mark is about his keys, Jenna...).

Anyway, all is well that ends well. We ran, we mulched, we delivered.

Next up, the aforementioned Tug of War outside the Eel Pie pub in Twickenham on Friday night (9th June). Please come along to tug the rope, cheer from the sidelines, get a round in at the bar or pick us up off the ground. If Friday night isn’t for you, then we have second chance Sunday when a small team of Richmond GoodGym will be donating old bras and running 10k for the Turks Head race. Drinks at the Turks Head after.