GoodGym is nothing if not varied - and that's what keeps it interesting! One week we can be delivering leaflets through hidden culs-de-sac for Wild Chiswick in the icy rain and the next we're assembling no fewer than seven different flat packs ranging from kitchenettes to toddler trampolines!

GoodGym Hounslow really put its collective skills into use last night when we ran to Chiswick methodist Church to help with a flat pack assembly job like no other. This community hub is home to various groups, including the Stroke club, baby and toddler groups and youth activities. Carol, who manages the space, had a huge construction job for us.

This included a mini kitchen, a trampoline, massive media station, two sets of shelves, a baby climbing frame and a decorative arch. It was a true team building exercise, and without any delay, we split into four groups to tackle each kit.

Tish and Beth proved themselves to be experts in shelf-improvement, while Beatrix, Jon and Ariane had a little bounce in their step as they expertly put together the trampoline. Michelle, Steph, Maxime and Luis proved there is no such thing as too many cooks as they created a beautiful kitchen, while Breda, Florian and Kymm were in pole position creating a table arch. Chris alternated between a power drill and an unfeasibly large allen key making sure media stations and climbing frames alike passed all health and safety checks.

Unbelievably, within 45 minutes all flat packs were constructed and put away. Great work everybody, you've more than earned yourself a plate of Swedish meatballs.

If that wasn't challenge enough, we took advantage of the nice warm indoor space to do a quick but intense core session that featured corkscrews, reverse crunches, plank jumps and sprinter crunches. Abs-olutely smashed it, team!

We were ready for our close up last night in Hounslow as our task plastic picking by the river was to be covered by a photographer from Associated Press. It was with the flash of the camera that we left Chiswick Town Hall after warm ups to head to Kew Bridge.

Once there we met up with Dan from Active 360, who handed out litter pickers and plastic tubs. Luckily for us the tide was out, but unluckily it revealed masses of plastic bottles, cans, microplastics and wrappers that had been washed up onto shore.

We ventured down as far as we could go collecting everything we could see and chatting with local people who were interested to see what we were up to. We even spoke to one older lady who was stopped from studying geology at school because of her gender, but went on to do an archeology course in later life. She was very keen to see what treasures we might find! Unfortunately I don't think the British museum would be particularly interested int he discovery we made under the bridge last night....

The trugs were being filled quickly and our trainers getting muddier (see Breda's muddy badge of honour in the photos - hope you managed to get them clean!) as we picked and sorted. Before long it was time to bag up and count up how much we had saved from polluting our waterways. Dan worked out we got more than 6 kilos of waste, which is pretty good going in the time we had. Every little helps when it saves plastic getting into our water systems and aquatic life.

We made use of a nice well lit tunnel to do our fitness session, inadvertently creating an unofficial guard of honour for everybody that passed through - I think they appreciated the cheers! We knocked out various different lunges, jumps and leaps, which certainly worked up a sweat.

We saw off the evening with stretches, and for some, a warm up (and clean off, hopefully!) at the pub for food. There are a few fun missions coming up such as this one to drop off old trainers in Osterley and bashing and weaving on Chiswick eyot. Next week we're off to help Wild Chiswick in the allotments - see you there!

13 GoodGymers, one very congested path to clear, below zero temperatures - it could only be our first group run of the year!

After a couple of weeks away from group sessions it felt great to be back doing what we do best - supporting local communities, getting active, and having a lot of laughs along the way.

Our job for the evening was at Strand on the Green school, where we were tasked with clearing a pathway that had become very congested with leaves, mud and branches. So after a run down to the school, avoiding all the precarious icy patches, we grabbed tools and got stuck in.

There were branches to break down, mud to scoop and debris to clear. We caught up on all the things we had been up to over the break - how many cheeseboards were consumed, who did festive parkruns, who started training for some epic 2026 races.

Before long the path had been transformed into a beautiful, clear walkway so we put everything away and moved on to fitness.

Diving up into pairs we swapped between conditioning and cardio exercises and soon any thoughts of the freezing weather were forgotten as we concentrated on who was doing what.

There are lots of exciting sessions coming up, including:

This Sunday mission in Putney I mentioned. It's going to a fun and impactful one creating a seating area for under fives - be great to see you there!

The January session weaving and bashing balsam on Chiswick eyot

..and next week's group session picking plastic by the river

We saw off another amazing year of doing good and getting fit in Hounslow last night with a task for an amazing charity, a run/walk that took in some incredible festive displays- and a bit of jeopardy thrown in for good measure!

It was a very Christmassy scene outside the Town Hall at 6:30 last night as GoodGymers met from far and wide, resplendent in Christmas hats and jumpers. Our job for the evening was our traditional end of year task to support the That's a Wrap project. This charity aims to get a gift to every child living in vulnerable circumstances this Christmas. We've supported them the past few years by spreading the word to encourage donations.

We were all set to pick up the leaflets which had been left at the Town Hall earlier that day. Except that - the hall had been locked up early. The grinch had struck!

It took quite some time of pleading, persuading and, let's face it, begging, for somebody to let us in. Thank goodness it eventually worked. We managed to run in and collect the leaflets - it was a Christmas miracle!

With no time to waste, we divided up into walking and running teams and worked out our routes. With 400 leaflets to deliver we needed to make it count. Before too long we were off putting leaflets through letterboxes and enjoying some of the finest Christmas lights Chiswick had to offer.

Fingers crossed all that hard work will result in plenty of donations to That's A Wrap. I'll keep you posted!

Job done, it was off to the pub for a celebratory knees up. There was secret Santa, there was quiz victory, there were festive socks, there was disappointing aubergine. But most of all there was a lot of laughs and plenty of joy to go round.

This year a whopping 70 of you have racked up an amazing 801 good deeds, which is pretty astounding. Five people have got their black tshirt and we have collectively covered over 9000 kms. What a year! Well done to each and every one of you - can't wait to kick off a happy, healthy, fit 2026 with you in January!

On our penultimate group run of the year we were back for our second visit to Green Dragon school to work on their new garden, visit the foxes and tackle more than a few brambles and rocks.

Well done to Michelle ad Jon for racing at the weekend in tough conditions. Great running!

We met for a run down to the school, beautifully lit by all the festive lights along the route. By the time we arrived, Una, who manages the garden, was ready with spades, forks and instructions on our job for the evening.

It maybe have been one of the last group sessions, but there was certainly no slacking. We had some very gnarly established bramble roots to dispatch, huge rocks to remove and a flat planting area to create.

We soon got to work, the evening filled with the festive sound of tuneful GoodGym voices echoing gently over the peaceful playground and the neighbourhood beyond....

After a good stint the area was looking much clearer, with Una remarking that 'you did more in one night that we could have in a month' - praise indeed! Well done team.

If that wasn't hard enough, we did an intense arm work out that worked our traps, biceps and shoulders. We even got a bit of encouragement from the kids on bikes that passed by!

Next week is our final group run of the year, but don't worry, it's going to be a goodie. In what has become an end of year tradition for us, we are going to be spreading the word about the amazing It's a Wrap project, hopefully getting a pressie into the hands of every underprivileged child in the borough. We'll then be celebrating with a social at the pub. Don't miss it!