The first day of November 2025 didn't feel like mid-autumn at all, with the blue skies and warm sunshine welcoming us at Horsenden Farm. Apart from the yellow and orange leaves on the trees, the Halloween-themed craft market stalls that suddenly appeared at the farmyard were a gentle reminder of which season we were in.

The day was supposed to be a big milestone for the Horsenden cows, particularly for the young ones. The farm kept five rare-breed Shetland cows: three adults and two calves born this year. The eight-month-old baby cow and baby bull were to be weaned in the evening, so the task owner, Elsa, asked us for help in preparing the calves' new room in the barn, right next to their mum, but behind a barrier to discourage sucking.

Afshin and Penny came prepared with their own wellies, so they were ready to give the slightly mucky job a go. Simon joined them in moving straw bales into a trailer and hay bales into the space created after removing the straw. As a result, a spacious bedroom has been created for the calves.

In the meantime, Christos, Diana, Gaby, Victoria, Sevan, Kash, and a new Horsenden volunteer, Sam, rolled or carried the scattered logs onto a single neat pile, following Elsa's safety advice.

We don't want any logs or bodies in the ditch.

Everyone was cautious not to trip over or strain their backs when lifting, so all seven happy volunteers marched up the hill for their final task: a bramble bash! The seemingly never-ending effort of cutting back massive patches of blackberries with slashers, shears and loppers was slowly paying off with reclaimed meadow space. The reestablished grassland will be seeded with wildflowers and become a new grazing area for cows.

Speaking of grazing, after the task, following the GoodGym custom, the team gathered at a bench in a sunny spot to enjoy pizzas, baked goods, coffee or local beer. We are looking forward to keeping the tradition alive next month, even if it may get a little bit colder. If you'd like to join us, sign up for the December Horsenden session! We are hoping to see you there!

October is the month of beer festivals and also a scary month as monsters come out!!Yes OktoberFest seems to be in the air as a lot of cans around the streets of the borough. Monsters too are around but in various forms. Gabriela and Simon were not scared of the Pickled Onion Monster Munch : bagged it straight away along with some other items found on the streets of Ealing. Steph Ducat has a few usual spots which give of the main roads like Burbage Close or should it be called Garbage Close as seems that always loads of litter in that area. Harvey spot is Hanwell - litter monsters are also present there not only at Halloween.

Early Sunday morning and it was another big turn up from both the children but also the volunteers. Kash, Gabriela and Steph Ducat arrived after a small fitness session in the park to join both Sevan and Jacquie. As there was a lot of volunteers some roles were doubled up so we had double marshalling to keep the children out of trouble around the course. Gabriela and Kash were at marshal point 8 and were giving high 5's. Steph Ducat was also doubling up as tail walker : yes 2 tails walkers today! Sevan had the task of giving out the tokens, but realised that token number 67 was not in the batch. Will token 67 make it's way back to the next park run?In the meantime it was high security and no messing around at the funnel with Jacquie and 3 other volunteers. Another successful junior park run with 105 children getting over the finish line.

On a Sunday morning, when many people would rather choose a lie-in, Gaby, Simon and Steph showed up in front of The Berry Cafe in Pitshanger Park to join Kash for a whole body fitness session. The workout lasted only 15 minutes, but filled the GoodGymers with energy better than a coffee ahead of the junior parkrun volunteering session - and that's exactly what marshals cheering kids on their runs need!

Seven exercises, including high knees, press-ups, jump squats (or just squats), tricep dips, back lunges, plank shoulder taps and plank leg raises hit different muscle groups and made hearts beat a bit faster. The best part? Every exercise had a basic and a more challenging version, so everyone could choose a progression that worked for their experience and current fitness level!

When the workout finished, the GoodGymers were rewarded with a ray of sunshine on their faces - probably the only one that got through the clouds this weekend! If you missed the sun and the workout, nothing is lost. There will be more fitness sessions ahead of tasks coming soon in November!

It's been a whole four months since Ealing Repair Cafe teamed up with GoodGym Ealing in June. After the summer break, Mary and Lone had a busy September, running events during Ealing Green Week. They were proud to share that they had been giving out the famous T-shirt drawstring bags with mini sewing kits attached, encouraging people to mend their clothes. Now, it was time to head to the hall of St Mary's Church in Acton to make new drawstring bags!

Tonight's session in numbers:

1st session for our newest addition to the team, Yulia, who was the bravest one and volunteered to tame the beast, the electric sewing machine, to sew new drawstring bags.
2 GoodGymers - Gaby and Maria - worked on a banner for ReActon, a new reuse and repair site in Acton, arranging letters made of ties on a massive piece of fabric, and then hand-sewing them to it.
3 other GoodGymers - Harvey, Steph and Kash - worked on a production line, cutting the fabric for bags, and threading yarn through them, basically everything to give everyone else their chance to sew.
5 runners coming from Ealing Broadway to Acton: Harvey, Maria, Sevan, Steph and Kash.
5 running t-shirts donated by Steph towards the drawstring bag effort - will his race t-shirt supply ever end? We don't think so!
10th collab session by Ealing Repair Cafe and GoodGym Ealing, marked by consumption of cakes and doughnuts brought by Mary and Lone.
17 letters traced and cut out by Sevan to create a banner advertising "Free school uniforms" - all made from... donated school uniforms beyond repair.
23 colourful drawstring bags, including one with Cher pattern, were the result of today's efforts, most likely going to be donated to the Northfields Community Library.

And, finally, a whole...
750 good deeds by Steph! Time flew by - we saw it coming, but Steph doesn't cease to surprise us with how much GoodGymming he's doing each month. Congratulations Steph!

Next week, we are running to St Mary's Church - this time in South Ealing - for an Autumn garden tidy-up. There will be a walking session from Ealing Broadway too - so sign up now!