Last night saw us return to the stunning grounds of Chiswick House & Gardens, a beautiful space that runs as a charity and is completely free for all to enjoy — a real West London gem.

We kicked things off with a warm-up in the evening sunshine, and took a moment to give a huge congratulations to our racers from last weekend — well done Alan, Michelle, and Florian for smashing it out there!

Limbered up, we made our way to the gardens to meet the rest of the GG crew. After gathering tools and (eventually!) locating the elusive pile of mulch, we figured out exactly where it needed to go and got to work.

We quickly developed a well-oiled system of shovelling, barrow-shifting, and spreading, transforming the space slowly but steadily. It was great to be back helping out a local spot that brings so much joy to the community.

Once the tools were down, we found a lovely patch of grass for a post-task fitness session. Things kicked off with a playful warm-up (with some varied results!) before moving into a session focused on balance for runners — both challenging and hopefully fun.

All in all, it was a perfect summer’s evening spent doing good and getting fit.

If you're hungry for more GoodGym action this weekend, why not check out the mission at Waterman’s Park – a great way to get out and enjoy the local area!

I was due to help Mr S on Sunday but as I was getting ready to leave for the mission a thunder storm set in over west London. I called Mr S’s daughter and we agreed to rearrange for another day when the overgrown lawn was dry enough to be mowed and strimmed.

There was more rain on Monday so it couldn’t go ahead then. We had another chat and agreed Wednesday looked the better day. Mr S’s daughter was concerned it would be too much for me to do by myself. She asked if anyone else could join me. Luis is mission verified and lives nearby so was able to help which Mr S and his daughter were very pleased about.

In fact Mr S was so happy he kept saying he couldn’t believe how much better the garden looked. Especially since they can now see more clearly where 3 adult cats that have recently come along and made a home - and had a litter of kittens- are playing, before the RSPCA come: to collect them.

I took a day off work, which I felt would be a perfect opportunity to spend the morning in the sun, away from the screen. I was also injured, but wanted to feel active and useful, so I booked a mission in Hounslow and hopped on the tube to get there.

The mission was my second visit to Ms H, after last month's back garden clearance with Sevan. Although the previous task had been highly effective, the weeds slowly started to grow back. Today's focus shifted to the front though as Ms K, Ms H's sister had plans to take her sister to the hospital. She had been even considering cancelling the mission, but we've made it work, with Ms K and Ms H going with their brother for the appointment, and me staying to do the best I could in my 90 minutes.

I filled six black bags with a cocktail of grass, alkanet, bindweed, dandelions, other weeds and trimmings from a bush. Pruning was a later request, which I was happy to take, provided Ms K was happy with cutting the flowering branches. She decided that annoying a few pollinators was a safer bet than leaving the bush to take over the pavement, so I trimmed what was necessary and swept the petals. The broom and shears broke in the process but I was able to quickly fix the latter, and use the broom as a hand brush. The state of tools could slow me down, but not stop me.

When Ms H's brother returned from the hospital drop-off, I was almost done for the day, and he concluded the result looked very nice.

Mrs E and her husband have been beneficiaries of Kash and Sevan's missioning a few times in the past and it was great to see them again for the first time this year. On entering the garden, Sevan commented on how good it looked as most of the flowers were in bloom. Surely there wasn't much work to be done after Steph visited recently? Wrong. There's always more to be done in a garden.

Mrs E pointed to some leaves that had fallen onto the lawn and between the many plant pots. There was also some tidying to do in the front garden, which Kash and Sevan would learn more about later. They each took a rake and worked on one area of the garden to clear the leaves. Not only leaves. Mrs E's apple tree was already dropping some fruit in the garden, so that was collected too with Mrs E and her husbands help.

When Kash and Sevan were almost finishing with leaf clearing, the heavens opened and everyone took cover. There was a 10 minute intermission, so what else could they do but watch some tennis from Wimbledon on TV. While they were inside, Mrs E asked Sevan if he could clear some spiderwebs and if he knew how to prune tomato plants. The first answer was a yes and the second was an "umm, I can look it up". A quick search later, Sevan had educated himself on tomato plants thanks to Gardeners World magazine. The spiderwebs needed a plan too, once Sevan knew where they were and what tools Mrs E had.

When the rain eased off, Kash went to finish clearing leaves and Sevan started sideshooting the tomato plants like a pro. The spiderwebs were on the fence, so how could they be cleared easily?. Mrs E produced an old brush and that seemed like a good idea, so Sevan swept the fence, making a few spiders homeless.

Kash moved on to maintaining the couple's fig tree before tackling the front garden, which had the dreaded monoblock again. At least it wasn't baking hot today and the rain had softened the earth and moss between the stones, so she made great progress by the end of the mission. Mrs E's next mission will likely involve collecting sackfuls of windfall apples in the autumn that're playing hide and seek amongst the pots. Something fun to look forward to!

Shopping for Mr K, including his favourite bread!

It was a bumper session last night at GG Hounslow, where we had the pleasure of welcoming three new faces, and welcoming back one we hadn't seen in too long! So great to have you join us for the first time Cristina, Mark and Nina, and lovely to have you back for a flying visit Johnny!

With a reprieve from the heat of the last couple of days, we had a beautiful summer's evening to make the most of, so there was no time to waste. After a quick warm up (with a bike based alternative demonstrated by Mark!) we set off for the Comboni centre, a centre for spirituality run by Sisters, who care for sick people.

The lucky first few queuing up at the shed to be handed out tools by Sister Expedita got their hands on trowels, forks and other legitimate utensils, while the others received....bread knives! Still, we didn't let it hold us back, and got to work on the lawns pulling out the weeds coming up thick and fast. It soon became clear that only bad workmen blame their tools, as the knives were more than adequate for the task - and Christina even commented that her broken knife was even more effective. That's proper GG spirit!

Meanwhile Nina and Florian were doing a beautiful job weeding around the beautifully scented roses, while Cookie and Biscuits (aka the two Johnnies) were working to clear a large area around the back of the building.

After 45 minutes of hard work, Sister Expedita was pleased with our work, and after a quick photo opp, we set off for Turnham Green.

That wasn't the end of the hard graft, as we took on the three minute mountain leg challenge, followed by an arm finisher! Phew. Great work everybody! If you're looking for a mission this weekend, why not sign up for this one helping set up at Waterman's Park? It's going to be a fun one!