It was our first visit back at Gunnersbury park for 2025, and we had a big challenge in store. In the chilly weather we've been having, a big physical task was just what we needed!

With GGers coming from all over the borough and beyond, we met at a location in the depths of the park to find a massive pile of wood chips waiting for us. Before we could get started we were given a very thorough risk assessment by Jacob, one of the lead gardeners, and were even treated to a rather stylish high vis to wear.

Dividing into groups, we grabbed barrows and spades and got stuck in. As usual, we chatted while we worked, which made the time fly by. Conversations were as varied as ever, from parkrun to training plans and even some rather interesting Guinness world record attempts...

It's amazing to see what can be done when so many people work together, and we had a very efficient spade/barrow system in place. Before long the piles had been decimated and we had several crisp new paths to show for our efforts.

Hard work done, all that was left were the celebrations! Timed to perfection, just before Gus leaves us for a month for glamourous Milan, he achieved his 50 good deed milestone - congratulations! He's gone through several pairs of gardening gloves, managed to do a month of daily 5kms, has forged a brand new cycling habit and has done so much good over those 50 sessions. To mark the occasion Emily made the lemon drizzle to end all lemon drizzles!

If you're looking for some more GoodGym fun this weekend then why not head down to Chiswick eyot to help with cutting and weaving - it's a very fun task if you don't mind a bit of mud!

Also keep an eye on the January challenge - we're doing well but there's still a way to go! What better incentive to book yourself into your next GG session....

With freezing temperatures, a forecast of snow, and a phone call from the task owner on the way to our first session of the year saying that the ground was too frozen solid for us to be able to dig, January was being particularly January last night.

Still, we didn't let it hold us back. Wrapping up in as many layers as we could find (well, most of us. There are some hardy souls - I'm looking at you Ealing - who seem weatherproof!) we met up at Chiswick Town hall for our first group run of the year.

We did a quick warm up, cheered Ealing activator Kash for an epically amazing 1000 good deeds, prepared for Gus' 50th celebrations next week (we need to spread out the joy) and then head off into the night to the Chiswick Allotments.

Meeting up with the rest of the team we made ourselves comfortable in the heated hut on site, taking our time saying our happy new years and re-layering up. When we couldn't avoid it any longer we braced ourselves, and made our way outside to tackle the jobs.

The tasks for the evening were to clear a big pile of weeds and transport it to elsewhere on the allotments, and also to clear two patches of ground near the greenhouse of weeds.

We cracked on with the jobs. As the pile grew smaller, the weeding team worked hard removing all the grass and other plants away so that the grave of the late allotment cat, Catkin, could be revealed properly. Great work in tough conditions everybody!

On our way back to base, we discussed whether a fitness session was on the cards, or if heading straight to the warmth of the pub was a better idea. I'll let the reader guess the outcome!

Here are the upcoming sessions I mentioned - there's plenty to chose from! Tomorrow there is a brilliant session to help preserve vole habitats along the riverfront and on Sunday there is a litter pick followed by speed session - feel free to come for either or both parts!