Wow wow wow. Women of the world did unite on this fine night in Willesdens heart, for an awesome community task! Pow Pow

It was all smiles and sunshine in the midst of a gloriously nearly Indian summer-like day in London. No complaints here, even though it was rather humid, as double digits of my brilliant Brent beauties from all Corners of the globe, rocked up to support the community town team for the second to last Monday in may.

Flame haired lovely Jenny joined me first, who was new to the crew and we welcomed her joyfully with open arms!! shortly after we were joined by always lovely Liz fresh from weekend bridesmaid duties, double double trouble family fun with sister sledge and the Italiano sisters Awesome Amy making the most of the heat wave and dressed for a rave, planking and lightening bolt leggings queen Sadhana and last but not least everyone's favourite Mouse in the House.

So after housekeeping and shares, we wasted not one care and alive and kickin, set out on our mission.

Hot to trot and not half a mile away, the task awaited us in the form of community goodness sprinkler Colin and his glorious crew of merry men, little did they know they were soon to be joined by the equally if not more merry and definitely stronger wonder women from Goodgym Brent!

As we powered down the high road our red tees flashed past locals like lightening bolts crashing through the clouds. And what a joy it was to bear witness to the crowds of head turners who smiled with glee and cheered us on!

Ello ello ello... Arriving in no time at all, we reached our destination for the eve - The Old Police Station and tasking for a Willesden Town Team!!! Yay!

What was once the dominant presence of the local police station, standing all proud with its Victorian bricks in the heart of Willesden since 1801, had been left an abandoned ruin for many a year, in a wanted state of repair. Recently being relinquished as home to squatters, graffiti bandits and litter droppers, the local community had rallied together to take back ownership and begin working on the creation of community hub which will eventually become home to local businesses, hot desks, a community cafe and much much more in the view to bring the good people of this area together in one lovely and lively central community hub. How marvellous!!

So upon arrival Colin gave us the tour and creeping around in an original Victorian prison Cell we were found. Led on further by our very own brave mouse, who wasn't scared by resident cats in the house. Meeooowww.

After the grand tour it was time to get down to work and there was plenty of it let me tell you! Planting and making beautiful the gardens at the front. Shovelling and disposing of exploded soil bags in the main grounds and muchos lifting and shifting of mega heavy wooden panels and sheets of metal. Eliza in particular proving that size and gender means absolutely nothing when it comes to strength and determination because this superwoman held her own with the heaviest piece of metal known to man of womankind!! Even having enough energy to skateboard after the efforts lol!!

While the girls worked tirelessly for 60mins, never once were they distracted..... hummm okay we did laugh our way through most of the task, finding peculiar objects in the grass (the weird exploded foam finger to name one a Sadhana and I finding this most amusing) we planned our summer Brent shindig and discussed the pros and cons of racing in heat!

Before I knew it a time check brought us > crashing down to reality - end of play on this fine day. But we couldn't have tried more, with these plentiful chores!

Saying a quick and fond farewell to the community crew, we booked in our next visit without further a do. and like the lightening bolts once again we blitzed down the road for one final sprint back to base camp, arriving back at the joyful hubbub of the Queensbury our home from home !

What a fabulous evening, well worth the time spent, getting fit, having fun and giving back to the wonderful community of Brent.

See you next time!!

DO GOOD. FEEL GOOD. INSPIRE.

We had GoodGymmers from all over the place last night.

Bex and Rachel were joining us for the very first time. Lucie was checking us out after completing a Thursday fitness session and Ewa was back at GoodGym after last getting involved in 2015!

Then we had Matt and Chris from Bristol, Heather and Damian from Barnet (who both did wonderfullly at Brighton Half at the weekend), Jacqui also from Barnet, Lewisham and Greenwich regular Tom (shhh, we think he is meant to be with Adele this evening), Ewa from Tower Hamlets, Steve Lee from Camden and wannabe-Islingtoner-but-feels-sorry-for-Camden Frances.

Big news. Last night was Damian's 50th run Go and give him a big cheer.

Aidan took a strong group over to St. Luke's for more planter filling. That is pretty much done now so well done to everybody that has shovelled, wheelbarrowed, shifted and turned over the last few months.

Simon, Graham and Kike took care of the Caxton contingent, whose job it was to yank up all manner of unwanted foliage from the community centre's front garden, especially thistles, which we managed to rid the area of completely.

Yes, we all got wet, but so what? It's almost as though doing good is some sort of water repellent.

Treats for the evening were provided by Simon. Homemade flapjacks. BIGGGGG apologies to those who were off doing a lap of Highbury Fields and missed out. By way of apology I will be baking again next week and this time everybody will get some.

With Pancake Day looming there was only one thing to debate: should we stick to the traditional lemon and sugar filling, go for more exotic stuff like Nutella and banana, or go completely crazy and choose a savoury option? Most did go for modern, fancy fillings but there were a few traditionalists among us. Aidan insisted that it was unacceptable to have only one pancake anyway so you may as well have all the fillings. Go for it!

Next week we have a whopping three tasks and they're all great. Freightliners Farm, Thornhill Square and a brand new adventure at Urban Wild Gardens. Plus of course there'll be more flapjacks Sign up now

Be flippy,
Simon