Seven Ealing GoodGymers ditched the Sunday morning lie-in routine to assemble in front of Greenford Park Community Hall for another session to improve the centre's back garden. The backyard used to be a storage space for the London Bike Hub, and when GoodGym visited for the first time, it was full of bicycles in various states: from fine rides needing just a bit of maintenance to wretched-looking frames that hadn't seen their wheels for ages. Over the past few sessions, GoodGymers greatly reduced the number of bicycles in the space, but bike-shifting was still on today's task agenda!

GoodGymers Sevan, Kash and Mira ran to the sessions while the others walked. Did I just mention Mira? She's our newest addition to the team, with a knack for DIY! Our sessions never require experience in any particular area, but we wouldn't say no to bringing practical skills - especially since today's task called for painting.

While Diana, Gaby and Mohamed followed John, the task owner from GPRA, to carry, drive, drag or wheelbarrow old bikes to store them at John's allotment space, the remaining GoodGymers stayed with GPRA members Emma and Heather to further clear the backyard and make enough room to paint old wooden benches. Not seeing the bike squad returning for a while, Sevan set off for a rescue mission.

Mira, Michelle and Kash swept and packed the dried garden waste that had not fit in the green bin last month. One of the benches was now within reach! With no paper nor time to do sanding, Michelle diligently wiped the wood with a cloth and was excited to paint a bench for the first time! Mira gave Michelle some pro tips before both dipped the brushes in the bucket of paint, which, despite all the stirring, felt quite gooey.

When the bike shifters team, eventually joined by Sevan and later Kash, returned from their expedition to the allotment, Mira and Michelle said they must have put about ten coats of paint. Although the paint available to the GoodGymers was quite old, the bench received a much fresher look and more protection from the elements. The yard looked tidier with fewer bikes and without plies of leaves and ivy.

We will be back soon at the GPRA Community Hall to continue with the transformation. Check out how the back garden looked when we started work on that side of the hall and see the difference our sessions made!