You know how it feels to undo some work because it hasn't had the outcome you expected? Kash and Sevan felt a bit like that when they visited Ms H. A few weeks go, they'd prepared for the visit of a broadband engineer with Steph by moving around most of Ms H's living room furniture, including carrying 2 sofas into storage. The broadband engineer was supposed to rewire all around the room, but instead, only shortened a cable next to the door which didn't need any furniture to move. A true case of crossed wires somewhere.

Today, the furniture was going back, with a twist. Ms H's tall black cabinet was returned to its position against the wall, closing the secret walkway behind it and one sofa was maneuvered back indoors. Ms H had plans for the second sofa. It was to live outdoors in a sunny spot that was also undercover. Kash adjusted it's feet, making it perfect for lazing in the sun over spring and summer. Putting the furniture back was much easier as Ms H had been decluttering since the last visit 🙌.

Ms H rewarded the pair for their hard work with some berries to keep them going and some water. That sofa was a really nice place to sit. Then, Ms H sprung a surprise... there was one more job to complete.

The last task was something that Steph, Kash and Sevan had tried to dodge last time. Ms H had modded her tall black cabinet with some fairy lights, which looped around a shelf, then became a tangled mess. As they were effectively knotted to the shelf, they couldn't be removed without some GoodGym brain power. Kash, Sevan and Ms H worked together to unknot the lights, spending 30 minutes painstakingly following the cable through loops and splits to tease out the knots. Eventually, the 5 metres of lights were tangle free and Ms H wound up the cable, hopefully in a way that won't get into a mess again.

That really was the end of the mission, so Kash and Sevan left the fairy lights behind and ran towards Ealing.

Once upon a time, Los Mariachis from GoodGym travelled through the Ealing Borough and arrived in the town of Hanwell, hoping to find work at music festivals. Have they found any jobs? If you visited Sandy Park in the morning after Hanwell Hootie, you could find six red t-shirts lounging on sofas, getting a lift in vans, and all that accompanied by the whiff of a brewery! What sort of a gym is that? A gym unlike any other!

It was the first GoodGym gig for Roberta, who hadn't known what to expect. The first words Roberta said on arrival were:

How can I help?

And she got stuck in right away!

The regular GoodGymers expected to pack things away and dismantle the festival tents - basically: what they had done on Friday, but in reverse. That wasn't the plan though. Task owner June told our team that the priority was moving the Hootie furniture back to the Stables in Brent Lodge Park. We have done it in two van trips, loading and unloading sofas, armchairs, mirrors, bins, banners and a stand looking like a chromium-plated sombrero, perfect for such a Mariachi as Harvey. Some of us were so desperados to complete the task for our Hootie amigos, that we made an exception and got a lift to the Stables for the sake of time. Runners Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash didn't miss a chance to race the van back to Sandy Park though!

There was one more journey that the Hootie volunteer manager Rose had for us: a trip to the Viaduct pub. That was the task from which some of us emerged with the beer scent. Did we go there for a few pints? Much more than a few! We packed into a van and unpacked crates, boxes and bags of reusable festival pint glasses - hundreds of them! This time everyone walked between locations, much to Michelle's linking as she is very keen on walking to the tasks.

Steph and Harvey took on a bonus quest, also related to popping into a pub: this time The Green. They were tasked with carrying two giant letters "H" there, ahead of a thank you event for the amazing Hootie volunteers crew. Who else if not GoodGym can do a fun pub crawl with no drinking involved?

One of hottest days of 2025 so far brought into Acton Park 86 young runners who crossed the junior parkrun finish line. It wouldn't be possible without our superb volunteers - and there was an abundance of them! GoodGym alone provided 4 pairs of hands to clap for the children around the course (Steph, Alan and Kash) or hand out the finish tokens (Joanna), one pair of eyes to keep them on time (Harvey) and a pair of legs to make sure no child was left behind (Chikako). The volunteer roster was so busy, that Alan, Kash and a Duke of Edinburgh volunteer were all three deployed to secure the roundabout - the landmark of Acton juniors course!

Join us for the next junior parkrun volunteering task at Pitshanger Park or wait for another monthly Acton juniors gig - keep an eye on the second Sunday of each month!

5 awesome GoodGymers turned out for HANGOT's regular pre-Hootie task, to give Elthorne Triangle's orchard a short back, sides and everything else ready for the summer. The fruit trees there had seen weeds and wildflowers shoot up over the past weeks meaning that they were having to fight for water and light, so HANGOT wanted to give the trees the best chance of producing fruit for the community.

Sun cream was broken out ahead of Steph, Kash, Ramona, Eman and Sevan helping the HANGOT volunteers to chop, rake and wheelbarrow the overgrowth away. Frank and Lydia from HANGOT also had scythes to clear larger areas, so everyone else made sure to keep their ankles away from the sweeping blades. Today was Ramona's first GoodGym task and she did an amazing job, getting stuck into lots of different tasks. Welcome Ramona 👋🎉! We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Together, the team freed the majority of fruit trees in the orchard, giving the pear, apple and cherry fruits the opportunity to grow juicy and strong this summer. The mature trees will have fruit ready for the public to forage in a few months 🍎🍐🍒.