Hanwell School of Boxing, a volunteer-led charity offering sports activities to young people of all backgrounds, moved to their current site in 2011. Tonight's task owner, Linda, had been one of the key players in making the move happen. She told us about the building’s history and the improvements made over the past fourteen years. But nothing lasts forever. The wooden posts that have stood at the entrance since 2011 were now rotten, and Linda thought it was time to replace them with five plastic bollards.

Five GoodGym runners who braved the drizzle on their 3 km run to Hanwell split into engineering and sweeping teams. The builders, Steph Ducat and Kash, had the job of removing the aged wooden posts and then digging a trench as per Linda's instructions. Paving blocks, no longer held in place by the poles, and tree roots were only minor challenges, solved by a mattock found by Linda and Steph's jigsaw puzzle skills. The real enemy was the stubborn old concrete, not easily removable to make space for the new bollards. The good news? Nothing is set in concrete at the GoodGym tasks, and there's always an option to change the approach.

After consulting Linda, the engineers agreed the best way forward was to set the new posts in place with minimal digging, then pour a mix of cement and water around them. Steph and Kash flattened the soil and laid the first layer of mixed cement - without a trowel! Who needs a trowel if you can use a random square piece of foam found on premises? The technique Linda suggested for the second layer was to scatter the cement around the poles, then pour water on top. The speed-engineering brought concrete results: maybe not the straightest poles, but certainly stable!

Meanwhile, Thaiza, Harvey and Sevan did what GoodGymers are best at in autumn: leaf sweeping. With rakes and brooms in hand, they set a goal to clear the whole tarmac surface leading to the boxing club. Ambitious! The leaves might not have been heavyweight, but there was an abundance of them. The sweeping team bagged as many leaves as they could fit in Linda's car, who would then distribute the green waste where it was needed. The rest of the fallen leaves had to be swept to the side - maybe for another time to bag. The result? A leaf-free driveway to the boxing school!

Before the team set off for another soggy 3km, Linda invited them inside the club and traditionally offered them hot chocolate and minced pies. The sweet treat was a lovely reward that powered the GoodGymers all the way back to Ealing Broadway.

This week’s session was a real topsy-turvy one full of surprises, snacks and a serious amount of cheese!

Things started with the "second" delivery turning up before the "first" - an uncharacteristically early arrival just before 10:30am! Then came a huge drop-off from a local school’s Autumn Harvest collection, packed with donated tins and dry goods, as well as the regular bread delivery. By the time the "first" delivery finally rolled in around noon, there was barely any shelf space left! Crates of tinned food had to be stacked and stored for next week. A lovely problem to have.

Among the fresh goods were an abundance of M&S cheese, wafer-thin ham and (of course) more satsumas than anyone knew what to do with. There was plenty of tropical fruit, including two mystery items which were eventually identified as guavas with the help of Google Lens. Between deliveries, the team refuelled with ginger shots and tea to keep spirits high.

Thaiza joined regulars, Martin and Iram, and threw herself straight into the action, becoming a cardboard-crushing, crate-unloading, tin-sorting superstar. It was an unpredictable morning, but was full of cheddar-based cheer!

The Friday Hub did not have the GOATS Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and yes it was on the menu, but the real GOATS today were the Goodgymers as they dug deep as super busy day, regular volunteers missing and less volunteers in some areas. Lunch service was the 2nd shift for the 3 GOATS. Iram went from the parcel section to serving food and going through the kitchen to help clean. Thaiza went from serving Tea and Coffee, followed by helping in the clothing section and then then being in a busy kitchen. Steph Ducat was in the kitchen since 10am cooking/preparing food to then plating food with some washing up too. Todays Menu was Carribean style :

• Vegetable soup(carribean version)
• Curry Goat with rice and peas or plain rice
• Vegetarian curried chick peas with rice
• Baked Chicken
• Fried Dumplings
• Main dishes had a side salad and a portion of coleslaw
• Apple struddle with ice cream

The food went down like a treat and not much left for take way. The team are definately are the GOATS today as we nearly served 190 persons.

Ealing Soup Kitchen is a brilliant charity that looks after vulnerable and homeless people in Ealing. Every Friday, they run a drop-in service at St John’s where guests can enjoy hot meals, free clothes, showers, barbers, games, workshops, and advice.

This week, Thaiza, Steph Ducat, and Iram divided and conquered the tea shift. Thaiza manned the tea and coffee station, keeping cups filled and spirits high, while bravely navigating a plate of mystery biscuits... what looked like chocolate chips turned out to be fruit and milk chocolate in disguise!

Meanwhile, Steph Ducat earned the title of Coleslaw King, helping prepare a delicious dinner of curried goat, baked chicken, and chickpea curry with rice and peas. When the food delivery finally arrived (two hours late!) it was all hands on deck. Iram and the team worked at full speed to portion and pack meals, marking each crate with food items to keep track. There was so much food that the bags were bursting by the end of the shift!