After setting up the hall and preparing for food service during an earlier task, team GoodGym were listening to the questions at When tonight's fundraising quiz at the Hobbayne Centre. When the quiz reached its half way point, the GoodGymers put aside their confusion at the quiz questions and strode into action, serving meals to the quizzers.

Curries, either chicken or chickpea, were plated up with rice by Steph and Cherian. Once the warm naan breads were added, they were ready to be delivered. Kash, Liuba and Sevan were calling table orders and taking plates to be served. "2 more chicken for my table", "3 veg for me please". All meals were on tables in record time, allowing the team to quickly eat their own curries before going back into the hall and clearing plates from tables.

The last things to do were to serve choc ices as dessert before they melted, then Kash and Steph boxed up the remaining rice and curries for people to take home. With the food service completed, it was time to chat and to wait until the start of the clean up task.

The William Hobbayne Charity looks after Hanwell folk for around 600 years. They raise money to support schools, help those who cannot afford to pay for accommodation, and assist the victims of domestic violence. While the work the charity does is serious, each season Hobbayne brings to the local community something fun and lighthearted. In the early Spring it's usually a fundraising quiz.

Cherian from GoodGym Barnet visited the William Hobbayne Centre for a second time to help Liuba, Sevan and Kash prepare the venue for the quiz and curry night. They started with setting up thr tables. This year's improvements involved new green tablecloths and new ambient lights which made the hall resemble an enchanted forest with glowing mushrooms!

With the first task completed, Sevan started wrapping naan breads in tin foil before heating them up in the oven, and the ladies began wrapping one hundred sets of knives and forks in napkins. Another improvement this year involved moving away from single-use cutlery (obtained by the Charity through donations) in favour of the steel option. Because the metal knives and forks had been most likely donated, almost all of them looked like they had come from a totally different set. That's called dine-versity!

The situation with the plates was quite different.

"You'd be glad to hear this year we have compostable plates" - June
"Did you say 'combustible'?" - Kash

Before taking a break ahead of the second task if the night, Liuba went to procure some ice for the drinks for the event, and Sevan did a shop run for snacks and drinks for toe GoodGymers, sponsored kindly by June from Hobbayne.

Spring shared brightness and heat this morning.

Eight wonderful folk - Alison, Cherian, Emilie, Marek (on their first GG outing - welcome!), Matt, Pete, and Steve - met by the (soon-to-be-public) Ingestre Community Woods for a morning in the sun.

Alison, Emilie, Marek, and Matt grabbed pencils, saws, and drills to remove old signs, shape and cut new signs, sand everything, and apply blackboard-style paint. Over 90 minutes, this group made a technical task look quick and easy!

Cherian, Steve, and Alex meanwhile descended on a pile of wood. Some wood looked fresh and simply needed sorting and moving to a new pile. Other wood looked less fresh and needed shifting to the other side of the estate for collection. Over 90 minutes, this crew made tidy work of everything.

And across it all, the brilliant Pete coordinated and organised everything.

Thanks, everyone! See you soon!

Our first Barnet social of 2025 brought seven of us together for two rounds of bowling at Leisure Way, plus two welcome hangers-on along for the cheer. Attendance came with one rule: you don't have to be good at bowling! So we're not sharing any scores.

Our Finchley crew, Lucinda, Kirsten, Paul and George were joined by Barneteers from further afield, Jacqui, Paul and Cherian. We also coaxed John and Jacqueline from Camden to join us up in the far fields of London. While the two Pauls watched from the sidelines the rest of us set to the lane with cries of, "Bumpers are for children!" and "What do you mean we're supposed to knock the pins down?"

By the end of the second round we had beer, cheer, burgers, nachos, prosecco and even a little boogie (courtesy of Jacqui) under our belts. We then decamped to the bar for a closing drink and natter. There's talk of going to Oak Hill Parkrun and the Phoenix Cinema to see a film at future socials - check the chat (and message Paul or George) for details. Hope to see you there!

Our friends at Ingestre Road Estate in Tufnell Park needed a little help yesterday.

They care for a special woodland area - built and maintained by this community for decades - and a few new bins were in order.

And recycled (made from plastic bottles) were what they ordered. Swish and smart, these bins will withstand the seasons and blend in with the surrounding trees.

Over 90 minutes, this wonderful group of Alison, Caitlin, Cherian, Emily, John, Pete, and Steve drilled holes, affixed latches, and applied bases. They did all this while Pete showed me how to use a drill.

And... while the handiwork was progressing, Emily and Steve also took 15 minutes to plant a patch of rescued (courtesy of Pete) plants, giving an underloved tree a little more company :)

Thank you so much, everyone!

A few GoodGym Barnet members decided to clean up their local Streets as part of the Goodgym January challenge. well done for all your efforts and thanks for pulling together to help hit our January targets. awesome effort!