The task got me out for some fresh air and exercise and a lovely chat with a good friend. And we were both amazed at just how much litter there was just about any where we looked. It wasn't long before our bags filled and we were on our way to the rest of our day and the streets looking the better for it!

What's that coming over the hill, is it a monster, is it a monster? No! It's just GoodGym Hounslow ready for their Wednesday session in collaboration with #ThisGirlCan!

Creeping it real

Last night 16 of us met to raise awareness about lifting the barrier to women running after dark, to help out at a local school, and to do a spooktacular fitness session. We also got to welcome Ola and Klaudia along to their first session - give them a huge cheer!

Not only that, but we celebrated our lovely Beth's 300th good deed - that is an unbelievable amount of dedication to doing good! Huge congratulations and well done to Beth.

boo-tiful costumes

A lot of us chose to dress up for the occasion. There was Emily in her fabulous sparkly unicorn outfit, Lucy highlighting the terrors of social media in a brilliant mobile phone one piece, Eloise as an excellent light up cat (incredibly helpful for back marking), Beth doubling up cycling safety and Halloween chic in illuminated ghouls and Kash managing to complete the task and run in a terifying mask!

Back to our old haunt

After a warm up we went round the group to name a woman or women who inspire us to get active. Paula Radcliffe, Femke Bol, Kelly Holmes, Eilish McColgan, women who row, and Angela Merkel are just some of the names we look up to. So with the thought of these leading lights in our heads, we set off for our task for the evening.

Last night we were back at Strand-on-the-Green school, a local primary school where we often go to help. We had quite a few jobs to do, including removing ivy from a massive wall, cutting back a huge shrub, and finishing off the bench sanding. We quickly sorted ourselves into teams and got to work.

Ain't no body

We were a blur of activity, with Gus, Luis and Beth tackling the removal of the ivy which was threatening the integrity of the wall and roof, and Matt, Kash, Michelle, Alan and Kymm all cutting back the enormous shrub. Meanwhile Emily's dream team of Georgia, Florian, Ola, Klaudia, Eloise and Kash got to work on the benches so that they can be repainted.

The minutes flew by and it was soon time to down tools. But there was just time for a silly spooky session focusing on lower body. Suffice to say there was a small delay as I struggled with technology (thank you for your help Florian) and we had to deal with a speaker which went on to (maybe appropriately) die, but we got there in the end! We took on the Monster Mash challenge, before knocking out a SIX minute plank challenge with Thriller as our theme tune! Amazing.

There are a couple of missions this weekend, including this one to spread the word about Feltham's new foodcycle and lunchtime planting with Thames 21.

Next week you'll be in the very capable hands of Lucy as I'm away, so sign up for another great session at Chiswick House right here.