For Gus’s first mission with Goodgym we joined forces to head over the border into Ealing to help Mr G with clearing his front garden. Along the way I met with two furry friends, one a little on the older side with a croaky meow and the other who was happier and more affectionate than the photo suggests.

Mr G was pleased to see us and came down to show us what he wanted help clearing so there were no hazards outside his front door. The main topic of conversation today was the current state of world affairs and how difficult this is to see and read about when there is very little we can do about it.

Once we’d cleared the small number of weeds which had found their way to the surface, despite Mr G’s best efforts to contain them, we swept and tidied the path and moved some of the wood that had been getting in the way of the path.

After that it was time for the second mission of the day; Mr G’s weekly shop and Gus’s first shopping mission. To be continued …

For my first mission, I asked Michelle if I could tag along. Following a bit of clearing on Mr G's garden we were handed a nifty grocery list and headed over to the shop.

After counting our (Kyiv and Pesto) chickens (as well as the rest of the list, we headed back to a thankful Mr G.

All that while avoiding the rain! A nice first mission for Gus. Thanks Michelle and thanks Mr G!

It was the second week of our task supporting Abundance London getting rid of all those never ending leaves that were clogging up the beds on Chiswick High Rd and stopping oxygen getting to the bulbs which had been carefully planted by the charity earlier on in the year. With some massive plane trees right above them, we had filled no fewer than 14 bags last week but there was still masses to do!

Happily there was even more positivity in the air than usual on a Wednesday, thanks to some lovely returning faces! So, after meeting Rosemary from Abundance we pulled on our gloves and got to work filling Hounslow council sacks.

As bag after bag was quickly stuffed with dry and rotting leaves and the carefully planted bulbs were freed, we chatted about all things running. There are some brilliant races coming up - good luck with trainign everybody who is taking on the challenge. If you have any specific requests for our fitness sessions (which Lucy guarantees are going to be definitely, conclusively, regularly happening as soon as the weather picks up) then don't hesitate to let me know and I'll plan some suitable ones.

After 45 minutes hard work we posed for a group photo with some unusually good lighting thanks to the electrics shop behind us, and took a steady run back to base for stretches. Next week we're back to Strand on the Green school to help out with various jobs - hope to see you there!