The four GoodGymers: Paul, Liuba, Sevan and Kash, returned to the Hobbayne Centre for the main session of the night: serving. They were joined by Mohamed and Scotswoman Chris. The latter had received a special invite from the charity after trasforming the not-so-Scottish attempts on ceilidh dances into an authentic experience last year.

The guests arrived early, so the Address to the Haggis performance commenced ten minutes ahead of schedule. The man who delivers the act each year recited Burn's poem and fiercely cut the haggis into pieces. The GoodGymers were ready to serve the food and queued in front of the kitchen. This year, their new system worked quite well, with the more popular meaty meals going out first and veggie versions being served on demand. Only the gluten-free options caused some confusion, but everyone got fed (including the servers) in the end, and even seconds were offered - although only vegetarian ones as the carnivore version ran out.

While Chris and Kash kept an eye on the guests finishing their meals to collect the dirty dishes, Paul and Mohamed helped prepare the traditional (at least in theory) Scottish dessert, cranachan. In the meantime, Sevan and Liuba took up the joyful task of pouring the whisky. The guests' devotion to the Scottish culture was tested as the toast was raised only after quite a long, although fascinating, talk about the life and heritage of Robert Burns.

Next in the event programme was the raffle. None of the GoodGymers was as lucky as Sevan last year - the hopes to win a free team pizza at The Green didn't materialise that night.

Finally, the highlight of the night arrived: our indispensable Chris calling the Scottish dances! With the assistance from Sevan and Kash and two ceilidh-savvy ladies from the community, Chris taught the Hanwell folk the steps for Gay Gordons, Dashing White Sergeant and Strip the Willow. With various results regarding the technique, everyone had fun and the ceilidh went even better than last year!

The GoodGymers have been already asked whether they are planning to show up at the Burns Night at Hobbayne in 2026. We think Chris is likely to become the lifelong star of the Burns Night, just like the well-respected performer addressing the haggis each year!

The clean up shift of many Hobbayne socials gets delayed by the ongoing partying of the attendees and today was no different. Everyone was having so much fun that they didn't want to go home. That included dancing GoodGymers too, who were shimmying along to classics like Dancing Queen and Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart.

In between the dancing, there was clearing going on too, with all of the GoodGymers clearing tables, folding them away and whisking away vacated chairs before the people using them knew what had happened. It was a stealthy operation that eclipsed any sign that a Burns Night party had ever taken place.

What a difference a year makes. 12 months ago, GoodGym were setting up the annual Hobbayne Charity's Burns night by setting out tables and chairs, putting up Scottish looking decorations and hanging bunting.

This year, the hall had already been prepared earlier in the day, so the main set up task was to get cutlery on tables and count out shot glasses to be used in the evening. The paper cutlery was an eco-friendly improvement on last year's plastic versions and everyone was rolling up napkins with one of the paper forks, spoons and knives. Once 80 napkins had been loaded up... well, 80-ish, they were laid out at each place setting, ready for the attendees to tuck into the haggis that GoodGymers would be serving them.

Sevan and Steph Ducat were the 2 Goodgymers only left at the Christmas Craft Fair.They were not wining even if long day and getting closer to the closure of the fair. But before packing up at 830, they still were pouring mulled wine like there is Pinot tomorrow. The mulled wine levels were going down, but it was time for the stall holders to un- wine after working hard and selling their craft today - Working nine to wine? They were having a grape time : drinkin’ mulled wine and feelin’ fine.Sevan and Steph kept providing mulled wine, hot chocolate and minced pies and slowly packing items away. Even the wine was getting into the spirit of the season.

The second shift at the refreshments stall at the festive crafts fair in the William Hoabbayne Centre saw a swap of two merry vendors: Lena and Sevan. The performers at the gallery also changed. At 5:30 pm, the famous Ukulele Band entered the stage. Those GoodGymers who frequently visit The Green W7 pub after Tuesday's group runs to Hanwell know very well who I am talking about. Next to the festive classics like Feliz Navidad and I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day, the group performed their signature song: Jolene.

Mulled wine was a best-seller among drinks, which made Steph and Lena develop new solutions for whipped cream and marshmallows that were not going to be used up for hot chocolate toppings. They designed cream & marshmallow minced pies that sold pretty well. Chocolate chip cookies were also a hit - whether it was because of their affordable price or superior taste - we don't know.

The finish of the Ukulele Band act meant a big order on the house: plenty of mulled wine and hot chocolate for the musicians. Paul handled the large hot choc order while Steph and Sevan scrambled to heat and pour numerous cups of wine. Several artists changed their minds on their way down from the gallery and decided they deserved mulled wine after a long performance rather than hot chocolate.

The refreshments table was visited by several familiar faces like the Hanwell community members: Rick, Amanda and Dee, who were our task owners in the past. We also served warming drinks to Sean and Fiona from Ealing Wildlife Group and our GoodGym friends: Milly and Caz.

Paul and Kash had to leave at 7 pm. Before clocking off, Paul warmed up the last batch of hot chocolate and Kash, who was until now in charge of charging the jolly customers, gave Sevan a quick run-through on how to handle the kash or kard payments. A seemingly quieter part of the evening started.

A unit of five elite elves entered the William Hobbayne Centre at 1 pm on Sunday to transform the community space into an indoor Christmas market venue for artisans from Hanwell and Ealing. The first stage of operations was all about unpacking goodies from cars, moving chairs and generally relocating various items: from mulled wine bottles to beer bottles. And let's not forget about the hot chocolate! The upcoming festive crafts fair was going to be properly merry!

The team was blocked from setting up the tables for the stall holders until 2 pm because of a taekwondo class in the main hall. Instead, they helped with the set-up in the backroom, where one of our GoodGymers, Milly, today visited the Hobbayne Centre as one of the local craftspeople. Lena has shown unwavering patience, untangling a cable of Christmas lights and then braving the weather to embellish a rail outside the centre despite gusts of wind and rain. Her festive decoration must have grabbed the public's attention as later the event had a good, steady stream of visitors.

Five minutes to 2 pm the event organiser, Siena, gathered the crew and briefed them about the plan of action. The elves were to take over the taekwondo training space, move the chairs out, bring the tables in and unfold them as soon as possible so that the local crafters could start preparing their stalls.

With the main hall maneuvres completed quickly, the elves moved to the kitchen and started getting tipsy (I mean busy!) preparing the beverages. Steph Ducat and Paul heated the mulled wine and did careful quality checks that revealed that the drink was warming and excellent in taste. Nishy and Lena took on a more advanced task of preparing hot chocolate in a Heinz-branded soup warmer. The team trusted Nishy's (who is a talented baker) skills to figure out the proportions of milk and chocolate powder. The process required a lot of stirring, which Lena, again, did with compelling persistence. Kash came in at the end to give the concoction a more energetic stir. The chocolate drink turned out smooth and tasty, but it had nothing to do with "hot". June, the task owner, suggested heating it up in a saucepan and then pouring the batch back into the soup warmer to keep it at the right temperature. The trick worked like magic and concluded the preparations, shortly before the arrival of the firsts visitors. Check out what happened next!