The first sunny Tuesday evening task of 2021 for eight Hammersmith and Fulham GGers saw a return to the site of our 4th birthday celebrations – Wormholt Park. Whilst a few of us had cycled to the task today, there were no sore ankles to report. We were met by the lovely Vanessa, a local senior park ranger, who explained the jobs at hand. Two sections required raking before flower seeds were to be sprinkled, and one of the larger flower beds needed to be weeded.

One of the two flower beds required bark to be brushed off before raking and seeding. But alas, there was only a single broom at hand. Keen bean ‘taller’ Beth volunteered for this task, making it look like she had been put in isolation for bad behaviour (or perhaps she’s barking mad). The rest of the group first concentrated on raking and seeding the other larger flower patch.

Once the flower patches were sun and dusted, the group re-formed to prune the existing flower beds in the dying rays of light. Many deep-rooted weeds were removed, with several yelps being heard as the roots suddenly gave way and the poor goodgymer on the other end tried to avoid a tumble in the dirt!

The task was over before we knew it, and what better way to finish off the evening than with homemade brownies from “Big Little” Beth. Yum!

On a sunny Saturday morning, eight GoodGym superwomen met to tidy up Springvale Estate Residents Hall in preparation for polling day on May 6th. The GoodGym gang were greeted by Berni, who explained the three main tasks which needed to be completed:

1. Picking up the rubbish by the front of the hall 🗑️
2. Weeding the paths and paved area at the back of the hall and in the garden 🌱
3. Sweeping up dust and getting rid of the cobwebs 🕸️

'Big little' Beth had an improptu tour of the Springvale Estate as she attempted to track down the rest of the group, but it wasn't long before she was located and led into the garden of Springvale Estate Residents Hall.

Everyone armed themselves with tools, or in Michelle's case a feather duster, and quickly set to work. Jess and Analiese collected together the rubbish at the front of the hall, and quickly moved around to the roadside path to begin removing the weeds that had sprung up again. Analiese discovered the joy of the 's*** hot weeding tool', a favourite at GoodGym H&F and made light work of the weeds using it,

Michelle dusted and removed all the cobwebs from around the door while Lucy, Aine and 'Big little' Beth focused their weeding efforts on the the side path that would be poll station entrance! Beth and Clare weeded and swept the garden patio area. Michelle found another 's*** hot weeding tool' in the shed and joined Beth and Clare on the patio area, along with a tame robin who sat and seranded the group from one of the plant pots.

Eight pairs of GoodGym hands had the front and garden area of Springvale Estate Residents Hall looking spick and span in no time at all, ready for it to be a poll station next week. Berni offered around a 'healthy' treat of Haribos as a thank you, and we said our goodbyes. Girl power!

I had offered to help out with the food parcel packing for the Smile Brigade on Friday morning, and was delighted to turn up and be greeted by my fellow GoodGymmer Áine, who was also putting a shift in.

The Smile Brigade deliver food packages with groceries, basic essentials and hot meals to vulnerable residents up and down the Hammersmith & Fulham borough, and our first task of the day was to bag up the groceries for the deliveries that afternoon.

Along with a team of other lovely volunteers, we made up over a hundred blue bags of produce, filled with biscuits, milk, fresh bread and rolls, yoghurts, and interestingly enough, sauerkraut. There was a lot of sauerkraut! Then Áine and her fruit and veg team put together pears of potatoes, bananas, carrots, onions, apples... And some of the lucky bags even got the biggest bits of broccoli seen!

After making up all the bags, we helped unload a few more donations (more sauerkraut), emptied onions and tidied up the recycling, before the last challenge of filling up cups with porridge oats, and finding lids to fit!

Oat last, we finished, time flew by, and the morning shift was done, and the volunteers for the afternoon deliveries had arrived to take our bags away. Hopefully putting a smile on their faces.