Three GGers braved the mud to bundle pollarded withies on Chiswick eyot- and that is a series of words that can only be used in this niche context! Their efforts mean that the historic eyot will be protected from invasive crabs and will stay intact for hopefully years to come. Great work everybody! A special welcome to Pezhman who joined for his first session!

Last night’s GoodGym session was packed with action, good chats, and a sprinkle of drama. Our job for the evening was to team up with Abundance London for a big tidy up, focusing on clearing piles of fallen leaves out of the beds on a busy road in Chiswick.

Rosemary from Abundance London arrived with council bags and tools, and we got down to business clearing the leaves and litter. The leaves were hiding the newly planted bulbs, and we needed to make sure they had space to breathe and grow. As we worked there was plenty of chat about snacks, upcoming training programs, and of course, the imminent footie match.

Meanwhile, Jonny had an adventure of his own. While we were picking up leaves and chatting away, Jonny found himself in a bit of a sticky situation and needed to be sprung from lock-up in Chiswick House Gardens. We’re hoping he made it out in time—did he escape before the match kicked off?

After minutes we had cleared an extraordinary amount of leaves, collecting no fewer than 15 bags' worth! Hopefully now those bulbs can breathe - look out for the splashes of colour as you pass in the coming weeks

Don’t forget about this Saturday’s mission at Chiswick Eyot where you'll have a chance to get down and dirty by the river.

Our monthly visit to Horsenden Farm included more horns than recent tasks as we were in close quarters with the Horsenden goats, Yogi and Alfie. As we had such a large group of 9 GoodGymers today, we were given 2 tasks on the farm to achieve.

Happy As A Pig In Mud

Those who were happy to work with and around the friendly goat pair were digging a trench for new fencing for the pig pen. The cunning pigs had learned how to escape from the pen that GoodGymers created last year, so an even more secure barrier had been designed. The fence was going to go under ground level and be secured in place, so a trench needed to be dug to take the fencing and lock it in place, so the new team of pigs wouldn't tunnel out.

The ground was quite muddy (as the other group would discover later) so wellies were the order of the day to keep feet dry. Everyone managed to find a pair to wear apart from Steph, who soldiered on with his custom brown Asics. The fencers worked quickly around posts, trees and their new goat friends to prepare the trench, ready for Horsenden volunteers to put the new fencing up later.

A Great Disappondment

Elsewhere on the farm, there was a plastic pond which wasn't sitting flush with the ground. Task owner Elsa wanted to dig out the dirt below and secure the basin at ground level. Once the GoodGymers emptied it of rainwater and lifted out of the ground, the team found there was more water underneath too.

After a quick assessment of where the hole needed to be bigger, shovels of sticky, wet, clay soil were scooped out. Wellies were needed again as those in the hole were shin deep in mud and frogs. Yep, there were frogs camouflaged in the mud, so Christos became their saviour, relocating them to a safe bucket during the operation.

After a lot of muscle work, it was time to put the plastic basin back in the hole, fill it with water and pack the sides with mud and hard core to keep it stable. The water filled slowly, so everyone waited. After around 20 minutes, it looked like the tub had risen out of the ground. Sure enough, there was a big puddle of water underneath again, so disappointingly the pond achievement wasn't unlocked. There may be a leak in the basin or something else environmental, it was hard to tell. Still, we had a muddy lot of fun.

First up, the amazing news. GoodGym Hounslow absolutely smashed its January target. That's right, despite the freezing weather and dark evenings, team Hounslow managed to clock up an amazing 80 good deeds and 1133 kms (so far) thereby exceeding the goal. Absolutely brilliant work, a high five to each and every one of you!

Last night we came from all directions on foot and two wheels and converged at Cavendish school for the first time in a while. The new caretaker, Andrew, took Chris through all the jobs to be one. Chris then expertly took the lead and we all chose our area to work on.

The jobs were to transport logs and branches to the nature area, and to clear the playground of the many, many (many) fallen leaves.

As usual, tools were at a premium and there was some bartering to be done over the best kit for the job. Somehow I ended up with the kid sized fork and spade, which proved to be surprisingly effective, while Michelle raked, Chris shoveled, Alan wheelbarrowed, Luis loaded and Beth, Jonny, Emily and Kymm swept and collected like troopers.

It was difficult to know when to stop, but with the school area looking much clearer and neater we downed our respective tools, and made our way into the night.

The fitness session for the evening was based on agility for runners, and it proved to showcase some extremely impressive fast feet, dexterity and coordination. The team bounded its way three times over some (badly drawn) chalk ladder runs, leaps and other drills. Runners need to use fast reflexes, coordination, and quick reaction time to react to situations with speed and efficiency, both on road but especially cross country. Kudos for navigating the course with such efficiency!

January may be almost over, but there is plenty to get you motivated into February. To kick off, join run leader Chris next wednesday for this group session] (https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/helping-with-the-comboni-garden-project-17d2f68b-4db8-4f18-82c1-72806969f20e) or sign up for our new mission at the local Age Concern friendship club!

Remy, Kymm and Emily met on a beautiful, sunny, cold Saturday morning at this well loved community space that GG Hounslow have been working with for a long while to keep the place full of lovely flowers for locals to enjoy. Today was no different with tulips and daffodils to plant. With the right digging tools and the ground surprisingly soft we got through planting the tulips around the entrance in no time, and moved onto planting the daffodils around the edge of the park. We nattered away enjoying digging in the sun, and decided to continue enjoying it by heading to a cafe in Chiswick to sit outside with a coffee watching the world go by.