On a warm evening, we made our way on foot and by bike to lend a hand in caring for the historic cedar trees at Chiswick House and Gardens.

With the lawns showing the strain of recent summer heatwaves, our task was to refresh the bases of the trees with a protective layer of woodchip.

We got into an easy rhythm of spreading and chatting and levelled two piles around the large cedar.

Just in time, Lucy arrived to lend a hand and orchestrate the all-important group photo at the end.

With the final barrow emptied it was time to head to the pub to raise a glass on the eve of Remy's birthday, and tuck into another much heralded birthday cake made by Eloise. So good Emily hot footed it across London to try some.

Happy Birthday Remy!

Whether it the allure of a satisfying cleaning task, the blue skies above or the fact that holiday season in full swing, but last night we had a bumper turn out at GG Hounslow! If that wasn't good news enough, we had the pleasure of welcoming Mark and Caroline along to their first session - great to have you join us!

After a quick warm up it was off to Turnham Green to meet Abundance London, the organisation which created the beautiful mural under Turnham Green bridge that is so loved by local people. Every year since it was unveiled we've been back to give it a good wash. Goodbye graffiti and pigeon poo, hello squeaky clean sparkle!

After a quick safety briefing we grabbed our mops, squeegees and sponges and got to it. Encouraged by passers by we soon got a very efficient system in place, moving like a well oiled machine over the different sections.

After half an hour of hard work, the transformation was complete. It's amazing what a difference it made. I had a message from Abundance this morning saying

"I just wanted to say thank you on behalf of Abundance London for the great work the runners did last night. The Chiswick Timeline mural is now back to its sparkling best."

Job done, we hopped over to the back common for our fitness. Grouping into pairs we did a workout which featured burpees (sorry), reverse planks and walkouts, and with each interval we tried to beat our previous time. Great effort from everybody (even if some of the 'encouragement' from our partners sounded very like trying to put us off...)

Next week we're off to help a local school - hope to see you there!

We had perfect conditions for our return visit to Chiswick House last night, which was good news as we had a huge job to do!

The carriageway into the grounds is lined with beautiful plane trees. Fun fact - did you know London Planes can grow to 35 metres and live for several hundred years? Which means they need a bit of care and attention.

We were met with Chris, Chiswick House's gardener, who explained the job was to cut away the shoots from the trees' trunks. Or epicormic growth, if we're being fancy!

We cleared away the clippings and then got to work giving the trees a good pruning, able assisted by Chiswick House's excellent range of dog visitors.

There were some excellent techniques getting as much as humanely possible into the ton bags, and some very professional lopping on display too. Great work everybody!

Next week we're back to do one of our favourite tasks - washing the Turnham Green mural. Fingers crossed the weather is kind to us...

Last night’s GoodGym mission took us to a local school to lend a helping hand to the brilliant team at Cultivate London — a charity that promotes urban agriculture, training opportunities, and community green spaces. Our task? To bag up an mountain of fallen leaves so that they can become mulch that Cultivate can use to nourish plants and sell to support their the charity.

We were picking up where GG Ealing left off the night before, and had a target number of bags to hit — challenge accepted! 💪 Armed with wheelbarrows, tonne bags, and sheer determination, we got to work.

Under the seasoned leadership of Maxime, our team got stuck in with the usual GG energy. Everyone brought their A-game and soon enough, bags were filling and wheelbarrows were being ferried across the playground.

The fitness element of the evening didn’t let us rest on our laurels either. We threw in a series of bun-boosting exercises to really feel the burn and strengthen those peachy (clementiney? Watermelony?) butts.

After a huge team effort, and a serious volume of leaves cleared, we ran back to base for a well-earned stretch

**Next week’s task is back at Chiswick House – hope to see you there!