It's been three weeks since minced pies were a thing. Now, it's minced Christmas trees that are trending. And what do you do if you have a pile of ex-Christmas trees dropped in your park in the form of woodchip and a sizeable puddle at the edge of a path? You call GoodGym!

Linda from Blondin Consortium knew exactly what to do and arranged for a team of eight GoodGymers to come and help spread woodchip along a regularly flooded path to the community pavilion in Blondin Park.

Steph, Conor, Sevan and Kash ran to the park from Ealing Broadway, Freya walked, and Andy and James cycled. Ash was determined to come all the way from a distant part of the neighbouring borough, which was not an easy route, but he still made it to the session!

In less than 40 minutes, a small crowd of people, equipped with head torches, wheelbarrows, spades, shovels, and a rake, dealt with the entire woodchip pile and covered the problematic path edge with a moisture-soaking layer.

Traditionally, after the session, Linda invited the GoodGymers for a short break in the pavilion to recharge their energy with a cup of hot chocolate before their run back. Just as if there wasn't enough sweetness in the hot beverage, Steph brought a double treat to share! Ms F, an older lady whom Steph supports with groceries, donated pink champagne truffles to GoodGymers. What a lovely gesture!

The new year often means new faces at GoodGym group sessions - it was no different at the first group run of 2026, as we welcomed Conor. He found out about our community from a friend who was once a regular GoodGymer and is now warmly remembered. What a fantastic thing to recommend to someone new to a city, or even a country!

Conor was enthusiastic about the running part, yet our group, after a warm-up, squeezed in only a very short and a bit fragmented jog. Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash were extra careful as the temperatures dropped to around zero, and the pavements became icy and slippery. The quartet spent some time running between the Walpole Park gates, each of which was already closed. Oh no! Eventually, the running team, having met cyclist Andy and walker James along the way, headed to the emergency exit (or, shall I say, the emergency entrance?). It pays off to know your parks after all!

Despite the slipperiness and slippage, we collected a strong team - everyone who signed up for tonight showed up and was ready for some woodchip action! And we needed all hands on deck as we were going to tackle the path between Rickyard and the frog statue, which became totally bare since our woodchipping effort two years ago.

With wheelbarrows, shovels, forks, a rake and soundtrack (early 2000s hits played by a group of girls hanging out behind Rickyard), we accepted the challenge to refresh the path and make it enjoyable to walk on. Unlike our previous session to improve that path, we had to travel quite far to the woodchip source this time - and we were after the freshest of woodchips!

It was probably the first time this season we've had a noticeable snowfall in Ealing - but not enough to make snow angels. We've been considering indulging in the woodchip angels instead - especially as rolling in freshly dug woodchips could actually warm us up. Despite dropping temperatures, the air felt fairly mild, though.

Thanks to the whole team's determination, we've completed the path in just over an hour - and it was a quality one, with a thick layer of woodchip. Great work, everyone!

If you've missed the Walpole Park session, worry not! Next week we're back with more woodchip, more running and more park variety. We will be visiting Blondin Park for a practical workout for the local green space and a dose of hot chocolate at the end. Sign up now!