For tonight's group run, Northfields Community Library had asked GoodGym Ealing to spread the word about the services they offer to people living in the communities near the library. The first area to engage with was in South Ealing, where the library was keen to attract residents to visit their hub on Northfield Avenue. Little did the GoodGymers know of the adventure and perils that awaited them.

Sevan tried to plot a sensible route through an irregularly shaped estate. As they went from door to door, Ming doorbells were everywhere, a lucrative sideline of Ming the Merciless, who had become tired of being evil and was finally trying to go it kinda straight. The doorbells looked perfectly innocent, however they were actually being monitored by a control freak, who didn't want the GoodGymers nor the library to achieve their goal.

The team were making steady progress when they became aware a villainous pirate called Captain Book, who wanted to keep books and knowledge all to himself. This was the opposite of the library's aim, as they wanted to share knowledge and understanding with everyone. The Captain had seen and heard that GoodGym were coming, so he had put obstacles in their way. Snappy letter boxes and angry dogs were some of the early tests that the team faced and overcame. Kash ran and dodged from house to house, avoiding electric scooters and dangerously overgrown hedges.

Eventually, having overcome all other challenges, they reached Book's final test. Liuba was made to walk the plank... and she survived! Liuba returned with her bundle of flyers, having liberated another house from Book's tyranny. After that success, it was time for the GoodGymers to leave the land that Book controlled. Book's hold over the land was weakened, but there is still more for GoodGym to do to free the residents from his oppression.

Our first session at Western Road Urban Garden in 2025 brought an even more formidable challenge than last year's log relocation. There were plenty of different tasks to do - including planting in the gaps of the native hedge - but when Kash asked who would like a non-muscle task, she heard a resounding silence from Mohamed, Liuba, Steph Ducat and Sevan. Everyone was determined to tackle the job that Janpal thought only GoodGymers would be capable of doing (in the absence of Council's heavy machinery or a chainsaw): moving bases of 70- or 80-year-old pine trees!

For the first four stumps, we used a combination of rolling and pulling a trolley to move them closer to where Janpal wanted to create a natural barrier to the garden. Thanks to stellar teamwork, the five GoodGymers and our friend Andre were well-equipped to complete that job. The remaining two giant tree trunks (one of them was a double tree!), even the mighty Andre considered impossible. Splitting the logs into smaller pieces would make the job manageable - but how?

Just as Deux ex Machina, WRUG's Chief Engineer Ash arrived with his head full of ideas and a wheelbarrow full of tools (sadly not the chainsaw!). His strategy to tackle the big problem was to split it into smaller chunks, using a saw, an axe, a maul, a wedge, a mallet and a sledgehammer. Liuba and Sevan were at the forefront of the transformation, removing the soil from between the roots, and then sawing grooves in the weakest parts of the wood. Steph, Mohamed, Kash and Ash were taking turns hacking into the rifts in the tree bases with the axe and the maul, making slow but constant progress in splitting the trunk.

Halfway through the task, the gang took a short break to replenish their stamina with samosas and tea, kindly provided by Janpal, and warmed themselves up in the polytunnel. The GoodGymers had a chance for a chat with Paul and Katie, who were busy with another job at the urban garden today. Our team found out that the wounded pigeon that Katie had found in the morning sadly didn't survive till the afternoon.

Life had to go on, so we went back to our wood-splitting challenge with fresh energy. We kept turning the enormous tree base (which needed three people!) and attacked it from different angles. The crevices got deeper and deeper with each strike of the maul. We handed the mallet to Janpal for the honorary last blow... which didn't happen! Instead, the wedge was stuck deep in the wood and we could no longer reach it with the hammer! We kept manoeuvring the wood, hoping to split it from another way or at least release the wedge, but we ran out of time. So close - yet so far!

Now it was time for the team to split, with Liuba and Mohamed heading home, and Steph, Sevan and Kash running to their next missions. Ash promised the GoodGymers they would complete the job at the March session at Western Road and the team pledged to return to claim the glory for their hard work. Come and join us at the session next month - the wood-splitting challenge is still on, and other, less extreme, tasks are waiting to to be done.

The drizzly Saturday morning in February brought GoodGymers their first session of the year with HANGOT - a wonderful organisation whose members plant fruit trees in public green spaces to encourage biodiversity and foraging for food. The volunteers walked through a bit muddy towpath to one of the farther orchards - the Blackberry Corner hidden on the other side of Grand Union Canal. Hint: you can reach it if you cross the canal using Hanwell Lock No 92. On the way there, a cyclist squinted at us, trying to decipher (from a sign we carried) what we were protesting against. Disappointingly, the sign that Clive later stuck to the ground, was only announcing that the orchard trail volunteers were working in the area - no demonstrations planned.

Well, a different type of demonstration happened at the Blackberry Corner. The task owner, Mirjam, and another volunteer, Lydia, both gave the GoodGymers a great explanation of how to do today's task: pruning the trees. Gaby, Simon, Maria, Liuba, Harvey and Kash learned the following rules:

• Cut out the shoots growing inwards
• Cut out the watershoots that are growing straight up
• Cut out the shoots that will rub onto other branches when they grow
• Always spray the tools with Dettol solution between pruning different trees to avoid infections (it's just like between operating different patients)
• Cut the shoots at an angle so that the rainwater does not collect in a horizontal tree wound
• For larger tree wounds (when you need to cut out a thicker branch), rub some soil onto them - you don't need any expensive products to protect the wounded area
• Don't prune the trees in the summer when the trees will produce lots of sap and will bleed too much

According to Mirjam, there were no restrictions on trimming the trees in the winter.

If someone tells you you cannot prune when it's freezing cold - you can. Well, maybe not when it's minus fifteen degrees because you'll freeze off your fingers. That's what Monty Don says, and I trust him.

Lydia and Mirjam, while agreeing on the theory had slightly different approaches to pruning: the former was more careful in choosing which shoots to trim, the latter more bold. The GoodGymers from the school of Lydia appeared more cautious about their choices.

While all the GoodGymers chose the pruning task, Clive's team was installing extra protection around the trees to defend them from rabbits. By the end of the winter, there is no food around and the furry residents of the meadow are desperate enough to go for the bark. HANGOT needed to make sure that rabbits would have to choose the other trees than the orchard ones.

Later in the year, with longer days and more growth in the spring, we will hold more sessions with HANGOT - both on Saturdays and evenings on weekdays - so watch this space for more listings!

Tuesday evening group run with 3 goodgymers warming up at Bodyline Studio before setting off in the windy streets of Ealing towards Acton Town. Sevan, Liuba and Steph Ducat were meeting up with Michelle and Anita who cycled their way to Acton West London Office for a upcycling workshop with Ealing Repair Cafe. Mohamed shortly made his way too. Mary and her crew welcomed 6 goodgymers indoors and away from the wind. Tonights task was filling draught excluders and finishing off bags made from T-Shirts with strings. Deal sealed in the windbreak market as the team finished roughly 10 draught excluders. During our workshop, a lot of chatting of bands and their skinny jeans which looked a lot like the draught excluders...Rod Stewart trouser style 🤘🤘. Sevan had one that was in a weird shape and different colour...banana style. There was also small battles going on : no one was hurt...Battle of the draughters!!A first for Anita and you could see that she was in her element.Cracked on with marking and cutting jeans. Steph Ducat brought a box of chocolates : for what reason? Was he trying to get rid of a leftover Xmas chocolate box as Mary mentioned. Or was he telling the runners/cyclists : you will need to run and cycle more to burn these calories!No in fact it was time for Steph Ducat to rock as Sevan presented him with the 500 good deed trophy/totem. Yes reached my 500 good deeds tonight in 22 months, well 21 months and 1 week!! After a great workshop,the 6 goodgymers were blown back out in the streets of Acton...4 running back in the direction of Ealing Broadway and 2 cycling back to Hounslow and Richmond.