Sevan and Kash had visited Mrs R in Shepherd’s Bush a year and a half ago for a hedge trimming task. Back then, the lady had lived upstairs and struggled to keep all the neighbours happy: some complained about her hedge getting out of control, others were disgruntled about GoodGymers making too radical cuts to it. This year, it turned out, Mrs R had moved downstairs following a fire in her previous flat. That meant one of the neighbours was no longer on the list of people to please, but the challenge of keeping the hedge and the tree in the front garden trimmed remained. Unfortunately, Mrs R has lost her tools in the incident in her upstairs flat, so Sevan and Kash couldn’t do any cutting back and had to find another job.

Mrs R thought that moving heavy pots with plants to the back garden would be a good alternative to improve accessibility for her wheelchair, bin men, the ambulance crew and the firefighters. The lady learned the hard way that large pots obstructing the path to the front door and the windows posed a serious safety risk for someone like her.

Mrs R must have felt much better than the week before when Steph had paid her a visit and had transformed an even more chaotic space into a neat, tidy garden. She asked for a chair and spent the whole session with Sevan and Kash in the front garden, instructing them and telling stories about how important gardening had been in her family.

”It’s such a lovely day to do this today!” - Mrs R.

The older lady was a keen gardener, in love with roses and lilies of all colours you could imagine. She’s been a winner of an award for the best garden in West London for four years, just like her dad, a gardener, had been winning prizes for his work. Mrs R believed that the art of gardening would keep her children out of trouble, so she taught them to get busy in the garden and stay away from the gangs. Together, they grew not only flowering plants. They also had a cherry tree and a veg bed with potatoes, aubergines, footlong cucumbers and four types of chillies - impressive!

Back in the present, Sevan and Kash were staying out of trouble, exercising their muscles and brains in an effort to transport all the pots worth keeping (a.k.a. the heaviest ones) to the backyard. Some of the pots they carried without emptying individually, others were carried in tandem. There were pots that had to be rolled over the carpet through the house, making a terrible mess (which Mrs R had accepted). Finally, for the really big boys, Sevan and Kash decided on emptying them. The best soil made it to the back garden in plastic buckets, where Kash had re-planted six rose bushes the GoodGymes had uprooted from the largest pots. What initially looked like a mammoth task for strongmen has been achieved by two Ealing GoodGymers, even the miraculous transport of a rosemary plant with the soil after its pot fell apart!

”You've got to have faith” - commented Mrs R, George Michael-style.

Sevan and Kash finished the session with a bit of sweeping and separating the rubbish from the pots worth giving away, which they had left in front of Mrs R’s garden for interested (and able to lift!) people to collect.

Last night was such a rewarding session supporting single parent families at Bassuah Legacy Foundation 💛

We rolled up our sleeves and got stuck in:

📚 Matthew worked his magic by creating a brand-new book section — turning multiple piles of books into something findable!

🧹 Jalal tackled the back steps, giving them a much-needed sweep and making the space cleaner and safer.

♻️ Cristina & I took on the kitchen donation area — and wow, what a transformation! We sorted everything from recycling to items ready for sale, bringing order to the chaos.

🛍️ Altogether, we cleared over 10 reusable bags of items! That’s a huge win — it’ll save Tina so much time and help her get more items out for sale to support the foundation’s work 🙌

Proud of the team and already looking forward to the next one! 💪✨

On Tuesday morning (7th April 2026), I (Jalal) from the GoodGym team took part in a session at St Matthew’s Church in Hammersmith & Fulham from 09:15 to 10:00. During the session, I helped the foodbank team prepare for the day by: Setting up tables and chairs Unloading food crates from the van Organising food stock in the packing area It was a physical but rewarding session, helping the foodbank support people in the local community. After that, I returned again at 12:00 for an additional hour. During this time, I: Put all the boxes back into storage Moved tables and chairs back to their places Cleaned the hall

When I arrived at Mrs R home, I immediately knew what was on the menu and it would be a full on session. The garden was more a jungle and not accessible at all apart from a small path from the gate to the main door. Mrs R health is not great and I left her to rest and cracked on. Her caretaker arrived soon after me and I got bags from her and when she left she said that Mrs R was going to sleep and she said that I could leave when I was done which was no issues as in the front garden - no need to wake her up. I did a garden makeover so that the garden looked better and was accessible too : Bloom and Groom. Got rid of the rubbish, clear up and we could now walk freely in the garden and from the gate to the main door.

Last night’s task at the Masbro Centre felt a bit like opening a mystery box… except the mystery was just how much stuff could possibly fit into one sports cupboard. Spoiler alert: A LOT.

We decided it was time to tackle the other half of the cupboard, and wow—what a collection. We uncovered a whole fleet of cars, buggies, motorbikes, and enough kids’ toys to start our own mini theme park. Naturally, the only way forward was to take everything out first… cue organised chaos.

Once emptied, it was time to get stuck into the clean. And when I say brooms galore, I mean it—there were sweeping tools in every direction as we gave the inside a proper refresh. Dust didn’t stand a chance.

Huge shoutout to Cristina for smashing her very first Group Run! Not only did she dive straight into the action, but she also took charge of the leaf blower like a pro. With that fired up, we wrapped up the cupboard in no time and moved on to clearing the sports hall floors of leaves—strangely satisfying, not going to lie.

The whole evening just worked. Great teamwork, good vibes, and everything flowing smoothly from start to finish. Plus, bonus points for the run to and from the station—cardio and good deeds all in one session.

Thanks again everyone—absolute dream team energy.

Have a lovely Easter all 🐣

And if you’re already looking ahead, don’t forget to sign up for next week’s session here: Sign-Up Here

We kicked off the morning bright and early at St Matthew’s Church, getting everything ready for a busy day at the foodbank. The team got straight to work setting up tables and chairs, transforming the space into a welcoming and organised area for the day ahead. We then helped unload crates from the van — a proper workout to start the day! 💪 Once everything was inside, we sorted and organised the food stock, making sure items were easy to access for the volunteers who would be packing parcels later. It was great to see how a small amount of time and teamwork can make such a big difference to the smooth running of the foodbank. We wrapped up before 10am, leaving everything ready to support the local community — a really rewarding way to start the day! 💚