As a true cat worshipper, I have gone on a pilgrimage to White City to visit again three furry deities who lived in a cat temple with high priest Mr E and his elderly father, Mr W. The holy presence of cats blessed Mr E’s and Mr W’s household with a total absence of otherwise ubiquitous rats. The three felines Mr E had adopted, despite their godliness, were not able to keep their temple’s backyard tidy and weed-free. That was the job of cat devotees like me.

Mr E was, as always, very hospitable and generous. He made me Middle Eastern-style coffee and brought fresh fruit, nuts, and biscuits to the garden as offerings to the cats’ dutiful servant. As we sipped a little cup each, Mr E told me about his felines’ (that had been all outdoor cats) strong preference to use the litterbox at home, although they must have had plenty of opportunities to go elsewhere to do their less divine business. When I attended to the garden later, I wasn’t so sure about his claim as I discovered that I needed to be rather careful about where I put my hands.

To literally get into the weeds, I decided to move some things around - well, more than some - which Mr E welcomed as a fantastic bonus. After becoming Mr W’s carer, he’d been overwhelmed with caring responsibilities and rearranging the house. He hadn’t got either the time or energy to look after the garden anymore, not to mention decluttering the items that were no longer needed and had ended up in the garden. He was delighted to see that I had bagged the clutter and moved it into one corner, which made the centre of the backyard look open and tidy.

Having 15 (or a bit more) minutes to spare before heading to my last session of the day, I spent the extra time in Mr W’s garden as his son had such a friendly attitude - full of appreciation for the help his dad received. It’s been a pleasure to help them today!

I last visited Ms E in Hammersmith to help with her garden back in 2020. She had taken so much pride in maintaining her garden and likes to keep the gardening tools tidy and well organised. As it had been so long since the last time I saw Ms E we spent some time catching up.

Then we went out into the garden and Ms E showed me which areas she wanted tidied first. Some of the bushes have grown over more than Ms E would like. I got to work clearing and neatening things up and Ms E was pleased with the progress, removing old piles of leaves and clearing the path to the rear gate.

One more session in a couple of week’s time should help to trim the overgrown bushes and help her beloved rose grow again.

The bi-weekly food bank at St Matthew's Church needed help setting up tables, chairs, and laying out the items donated in the 'shopping list' order, making sure older items are used up first. Who doesn't love some grocery rotation!

Lawrence, Alex and Jo are now pros at the set up having been last week (Alex's first ever mission!) and Christina in only her second GoodGym mission got stuck in too providing an invaluable set of hands.

Sian, Tony and the team were so pleased with our help and after a swift 45 mins, the foodbank was ready to open and the Goodgymers headed out.

Organised all food groups in order for the food bank with the whole team at St. Simon’s Church :)

A bit of a change this week, switching to the Monday crew. New set-up styles were adapted to, and the van was quickly unloaded. The foodbank volunteer team was a bit short-staffed this week, so I stayed for an additional 30 minutes to run food parcels out to clients.

It's been less than 4 weeks since Kash's solo visit to Mr M for back garden maintenance. This time she was expecting to tackle the side passage and the front garden, together with Sevan. Imagine her disappointment when she saw an explosion of lush bindweed and alkanet on the lawn she had weeded a few weeks ago! It looked worse than before her July mission for Mr M and felt like her attempts to pull or dig out the roots had been ineffective long-term.

Mr M's typical tactic when it comes to the lawn, was to simply mow it, and that's what Kash decided to do this time. She also pulled out some bindweed, especially the vines creeping on the paving, which could have been a trip hazard for Mr M, who had become increasingly unstable on his legs.

Sevan, never scared of painstakingly detailed work, disappeared behind the corner to pull out weeds alongside the path between front and back gardens. Kash joined him part-way, and together they reached the gate leading to the other side.

The front garden was easy and satisfying to tidy up, but offered quite a different experience. The backyard was filled with birdsong (quite unexpected in the centre of Shepherd's Bush), neighbour's dramatic music with intense flute parts, and the sounds of the tube trains announcing that the next station was Wood Lane. In the front garden, in contrast to that magical place behind the house, you could hear conversations of passers-by, tick-tocking of abused Lime bikes, and infernal screeches of a hoe against the paving slabs. The sounds alone could inspire a modern Hieronymus Bosch to come up with another interpretation of the Garden of Eden and the Last Judgement!

While Sevan returned to the purgatory of meticulous weeding - the side path between the heavenly and hellish gardens - Kash, who stayed in the Last Judgement garden, has been indeed judged. "Good Work!", Mr M's neighbour said. Mr M himself was also delighted with the result. Two GoodGymers were absolved from their sins against bindweed (cutting it instead of pulling) and free to go home to enjoy the rest of their Sunday.