GoodGym Ealing never know what to expect on their regular trips to Care4Calais, from school uniform picking to wheelchair cleaning to stock shortages. There's always something different. Today, some deliveries hadn't arrived, so the team, directed by task owner Tamzin, did what they could to keep the shelves stocked and fulfil the requests of those in need.

First up, boxes of clothes needed to be shuffled around to make space, with some heading for storage to be replaced by others that were needed now. Once complete, two different tasks led to Kash and Freya heading into the stock room while Steph and Sevan worked next door.

Some items were running low due to the non-deliveries, so Freya and Kash worked to prepare bags of requests that could be completed. There were more people asking for winter coats as the weather turned and there were requests for abayas and hijabs too. By the end of the session, Freya had mastered Tamzin's the storage system... which may have changed by the next time we visit in 6 days.

In the other room, Steph and Sevan were busy sorting new donations, with bags and bags waiting for their attention. There were some much needed winter jackets, a big batch of school clothes and a selection of hats (some of them useful for clients, some of them not). There were women's clothes too, many with unusual sizing. Some labels would claim they were small and then looked enormous on Steph and Sevan.

The team powered though a good set of tasks, leaving Tamzin's To Do list a bit lighter. No doubt it'll fill up again before we return next weekend.

It takes two (teams of GoodGym Ealing people) to make a dream come true - the dream of the streets of Ealing free from the signs of an amazing community half marathon. And by the time our teams had finished, indeed, there were no signs! They were all unclipped and packed neatly away in some of those big blue bags that look a bit like the ones from a famous Scandinavian superstore. Ealing - where the streets have no signs, ahaaa...til next year's Ealing half marathon!

St Mary’s Church of South Ealing is well-known to GoodGymers, whether through the weekly food cupboard sessions on Mondays, the gardening tasks in the churchyard, or the annual Christmas tree decoration. Tonight's task was a unique one. The local community was preparing for the first service to mark the start of the ministry of their new vicar, Revd. Joy French. Renowned for their Christmas tidy-up expertise, our team was asked to clean the gallery and tackle cobwebs in the church.

A team of runners and a cyclist arrived at the church to meet the member of the community, Brian, who handed them the tools: a few brushes, a dustpan, and two very long brushes - the cobweb busters. Freya and Kash, excited about getting the extra range, grabbed the super brushes and stayed on the ground floor to clean under the gallery. Iram, Chris, and Sevan, armed with brushes, wipes, and a dustpan, headed upstairs to handle the dust in the gallery.

While dusting, the upstairs team learned that their favourite church tower, an attraction to visit after each Christmas clean-up, was no longer accessible due to safety concerns. Meanwhile, the cobweb vanquishers downstairs discovered a bust of a biblical prophet with two left hands! We completed the job in just an hour and are hoping now that the community will be proud of their dust-free church while welcoming Reverend Joy.

Next week, we are staying in Ealing Broadway for the Tuesday evening session and tackling thistles and brambles in Walpole Park - sign up now to join us!.

If you want to visit St Mary’s during the day, sign up for one (or more) of the weekly sessions at the church’s food cupboard here.

The last group run of August 2025 took GoodGym runners Sevan, Harvey, Freya and Steph Ducat to South Acton in a pursuit of perfection in the art of leaf mulch making. At Berrymede School, they met Kash and Chris, and, of course, Romina from Cultivate London, who would guide them in preparing the finest 2024 leaf compost, continuing their work started in July.

Last year's leaves were well-marinated: dark, moist and rich - easy to tell apart from golden, crispy 2025 leaves that already started falling onto the schoolyard. We had to do our best to finish the 2024 batch before it got contaminated by this season's additions. Chris, Freya, Sevan and Kash positioned themselves at the leaves deposit to dig out the damp organic gold. The lowest layers already had some growth in them. The GoodGymers found peculiar white sprouts and even apples: one edible (presumably, as no one actually tried it), and another - an Apple device! Cultivate London charity could grow rich by growing more iPhones rather than selling leaf mulch to raise funds!

Harvey, in breaks from shovelling leaves, was driving the trolley with half-full tonne bags to Bay 2024, where Steph was performing leaf stomping: an ancient tradition of treading the mulch by feet to release the juices and initiate fermentation. As the time went on, the half-full bags in the bay, topped up with Harvey's deliveries and compressed by Steph, grew fatter and denser. Romina was delighted to see what outstanding results a small team could achieve and gave the GoodGymers a round of high-fives.

Next week, our Tuesday session will take place near Ealing Broadway. We will be pruning and watering at the much-loved Lammas Orchard. Sign up now to join us!

Tuesday evening group run : Freya, Richard and Steph Ducat set off from Bodyline studio to the Willaim Hobbayne Centre on a 3km run to meet Angela and then Jules. June welcomed everyone and we got the tools and cracked on in the courtyard. We normally attacked the weed in the main courtyard area, but this time it was decided we go from the far end towards the courtyard as never have enough light and time to do that section. The team tackled weed, brambles, moss and dead leaves. June was so impressed at the speed we tackled the whole area : aie aie speedy Gonzalez and his friends were present at Hobbayne tonight. We filled 6 bags and even had time to get 6 boxes of old brochures to the bin plus load June's car with 2 boxes and a bag of toys that would be given away tomorrow. Were the Goodgymers in need for speed tonight? Well done to Richard for running 3km as he has just recently started to run.