What a lot to cheer about in Hounslow at the moment! We had some great racing, with Michelle, Beth and Jon all doing the Cabbage Patch 10 on Sunday, we got to welcome Breda who joined us for her very first session (great to meet you Breda!) and we have our upcoming 9th birthday celebrations in a couple of week - let me know if you've got any ideas about how you'd like to mark the occasion. What a lot of good stuff!

Our task for the evening was at Chiswick House, and so we met gardeners Chris and Kate at the gate and followed them into the very dark, very atmospheric grounds. We were led to two giant piles of woodchip, and our task was to shift it under the 300 year old cedar trees and their swooping branches.

With Halloween round the corner it was a very appropriate task - passers by must have wondered who the shadowy figures were dancing around the gently smoking heaps in the night!

The mulch has several positive effects - moisture control and keeping weeds down - plus is a great way to repurpose byproducts. It was also a fantastic workout. All that shoveling, shifting and raking proved to be quite the challenge.

Job done, it was time to learn yet another GoodGym specific new skill - the wheelbarrow pivot. What to do when you have a larger wheelbarrow to person ratio? Check out the photos to see our newly acquired knowledge and an impressive balancing act!

Next week we have potentially two tasks, both at local schools. If you could sign up here so we can take into account numbers and decide if we could manage both, that would be great!

If you're about this weekend and fancy a nice little mission on Chiswick eyot, I have just the thing!

It's been a little while since we've been back to help Under One Sky get food to those sleeping rough, but it didn't take long to see what an impactful task it is.

Olga, Alice, Veronica and I met in a very dark Hyde Park for a warm up and soon set off for the first stop, a local bakery,to pick up any unsold food. We nipped round the corner to check if their other branch also had some baked goods they could give us but unfortunately there wasn't loads on offer. Still, we had the big stop left to go, so following our live location link we headed in the direction of the moving Under One Sky team to hand over our first lot and pick up bags.

UOS is a volunteer led initiative to use compassion and collaboration to end homelessness and support those living in vulnerable situations. They distribute life-support kits and food following the move from a winter pop up to a 24/7 operation when Covid hit. Since then they've helped countless people living on the street.

We located the team, did the handover and headed over to Pret for our big pick up of the night. After waiting for the shop to close, we were invited to practically clear the shelves, picking up bread,sandwiches, rolls, soup, pudding and more. It was quite the haul, and the UOS team was pleased as they were running really low on food to hand out.

Great job everybody. Next week we're back at the Abbey community centre for more jobs in the garden - hope to see you there!

Last night we proved that it's twice as nice in Wandsworth as we divided up the team to tackle not one but two tasks!

We had been schedule to head to the Scout hall in Battersea to help tidy up the outside area, but we were also asked last minute to come and help sort out donations at a local community hub. What to do - say, yes, of course!

So while Steph and Jordan stepped in to lead the scouting expedition, a second group made our way down to Doddington hub. We arrived to find a room stacked with donations. These had been given to the organisation following a major fire in Battersea, but because many of the residents affected have been moved to hotels, not all the donations were able to be used.

The plan is that the hub will be opened today so that people in the community that need a little extra help can find what they need. But before that can happen, there was a lot of sorting to do! While Annabel and Ali got stuck into the enormous pile of games, deciding what was educational (quiz games), what was fun (Jenga) and what was destined for the bin (the creepy dolls head..see photo). Johnny and Felix tested their sartorial skills by going through a mountain of clothes, and even played a game of 'name the object' (we still haven't figured out what it was that Felix found!) By the end of the session the room was looking much more organised and ready for visitors today. Elizabeth, who runs the hub, called GoodGym 'a miracle team'!

While we had the benefit of an indoor task on a rainy day, the intrepid Scout group were with Peter at the hall, and had a big weeding and clearing job to take on. The drizzle didn't hold them back, and captured by photographer Jordan, the overgrown space was dealt with beautifully. Peter had this to say this morning -

'Thanks again for Goodgym's support. We managed to clear the garage area , and round by back door. Steph did a grand job of sweeping the car park. We also discovered a hole in the ground!'

Great job everybody - and you even managed to divert a potential sinkhole disaster!

A few dates for your diary - next Monday we will be off to Larkhall Park to help out there followed by a Halloween themed social -either drop me an email or join the whatsapp group to find out the finer details of the post-run social but the idea is that we were will be going to a local pub with some Halloweed themed fun. All welcome!

We also have a mission coming up that needs plenty of help - we're back at Paradise for a Sunday morning session shoveling manure. It promises to be a great work out in the fresh air at a beautiful community space!