Shopping for Mr K, this time featuring ready meals

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!

Running to my mission in Brentford, I spotted a familiar figure running ahead of me across the road. Bright red T-shirt, backpack, purple-ish hair under a white cap. Unmistakably one of the GoodGym Ealing elite. Let's call her "X".

"X" I shouted - five times, volume increasing, before she finally stopped and turned to face me.

It wasn't her. And an unfamiliar logo on the front of the red T-shirt. A smile and a wave before she turned and headed off on her way indicated that the mystery woman was fortunately unperturbed by the mistaken attention. Or perhaps I have my own doppelgänger.

A few minutes down the road, I bumped into a regular GoodGym Ealing beneficiary, a run director from junior parkrun. "Oh, another GoodGymer," she said. "I've just seen X running past". So I was not alone in my confusion.

At the Foodbox, a very satisfying hour clearing away leaves from the grounds outside. Managed to fill 6 bags despite the blustery conditions, making a definite improvement and leaving the place much tidier.

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...

After a morning community mission in Ealing, Sevan ran 7km southwest to meet Kash again, this time in Hounslow. Two Ealing GoodGymers arrived at Mr A's, who needed help with weeding and trimming plants. Mr A was worried about the state of his garden because of his health and the time-consuming responsibilities as a carer for his disabled wife.

My garden is a mess! - Mr A.
We've seen worse - Kash.

Mr A was able to mow the grass and even cut back some of the bushes himself (although the taller ones were more challenging), but bending to remove the weeds was too much for him. Kash would have loved to trim the hedge, but weeding the flower bed and paving was a priority. It was more of a Sevan-style type of task: one of quality and diligence.

Kash committed to scraping the paved area with an impressive selection of metal brushes Mr A offered her, and Sevan decided to work exclusively in the flower bed, where his skills thrived. Kash later joined him to score some big wins, pulling out massive dandelions from the soil.

The two made such a transformation that grateful Mr A wanted to offer them payment or a lift to the next mission. Both rewards were out of the question, but the GoodGymers appreciated his kindness.

There is still a bit more to do in Mr A's garden - maybe the next GoodGymer will be lucky enough to get their shears on those hedges!

Mr P didn't really explain why he has a large barrow when asked. It was ideal for Kash & Sevan's needs though, to move Mr P's old fridge and his freezer out to the road for collection. There was a surprise to be disposed of too, a small snooker table.

"It's a proper snooker table."
"My son learned to play on that and now no one wants it."
"Not even for the slate. That's where all the money is in these." - Mr P

With Mr P's help to hold doors open, all 3 items were moved outside for council collection in under 10 minutes and the mysterious barrow returned to Mr P's flat.