It was our first visit back at Gunnersbury park for 2025, and we had a big challenge in store. In the chilly weather we've been having, a big physical task was just what we needed!

With GGers coming from all over the borough and beyond, we met at a location in the depths of the park to find a massive pile of wood chips waiting for us. Before we could get started we were given a very thorough risk assessment by Jacob, one of the lead gardeners, and were even treated to a rather stylish high vis to wear.

Dividing into groups, we grabbed barrows and spades and got stuck in. As usual, we chatted while we worked, which made the time fly by. Conversations were as varied as ever, from parkrun to training plans and even some rather interesting Guinness world record attempts...

It's amazing to see what can be done when so many people work together, and we had a very efficient spade/barrow system in place. Before long the piles had been decimated and we had several crisp new paths to show for our efforts.

Hard work done, all that was left were the celebrations! Timed to perfection, just before Gus leaves us for a month for glamourous Milan, he achieved his 50 good deed milestone - congratulations! He's gone through several pairs of gardening gloves, managed to do a month of daily 5kms, has forged a brand new cycling habit and has done so much good over those 50 sessions. To mark the occasion Emily made the lemon drizzle to end all lemon drizzles!

If you're looking for some more GoodGym fun this weekend then why not head down to Chiswick eyot to help with cutting and weaving - it's a very fun task if you don't mind a bit of mud!

Also keep an eye on the January challenge - we're doing well but there's still a way to go! What better incentive to book yourself into your next GG session....

Having recently returned home from hospital, Mr S is very grateful for GoodGym help at the moment to pick up his essential weekly shopping for him.

Last week's super-conscientious GoodGym shopper had alerted me that I'd probably need to visit the large superstore a few km away from Mr S's flat to get all of the required items. Having already run a fair distance to get there, I wasn't too disappointed when Mr S suggested that I should be able to get all of this week's supplies from the smaller store just down the road.

And so it turned out, except for needing to substitute Mr S's first choice of cake for another type, and one completely absent item: tinned potatoes. Not to be deterred, I popped into several other local shops before store number 4 came up with the goods.

Full shop satisfyingly accomplished, it was back to Mr S with the haul before setting off back on the return leg of the long run.

On a very chilly January morning, five GGers met at a much loved community space to make it more welcoming and safer for local people.

With the temperature dipping below zero, the grass was crunchy underfoot and the leaves were coated in a layer of frost. The only thing spoiling the wintry beauty was the litter strewn near benches, under trees and, frustratingly, around bins. So, grabbing our litter pickers, we wasted no time collecting bottles, discarded vapes, crisp packets and much more. As we worked conversation ranged from our tactics for keeping warm, local history and the importance of preserving it, the tastiest spots in the area for lunch and even the best vantage point to watch the boat race!

After 45 minutes we had two bulging bags of rubbish to show for our efforts so we called it a morning. Great work everybody!

Shopping for Mr K, this time featuring kitchen paper.

Alan and I met up with Chris at Feltham station, to spread the word about FoodCycle launching a warm hub every Thursday in Bedfont Lane Community Centre.

We had delivered half the flyers promoting this new free meal offering in and around the lower end of Feltham last month. This time we had agreed with FoodCycle to promote the hub to the residents who live closest to the centre, to make sure they knew about it.

Chris being the most experienced flyerer amongst us, having helped deliver thousands of leaflets to Richmond residents, promoting a Christmas tree collection scheme gave us added momentum. With an hour we’d covered the streets around the centre and we had time to call in and see the coordinators for a quick chat. Before heading to the library to drop off the last of the flyers and a handful of postcards promoting Goodgym to local residents.

A job well done!

With freezing temperatures, a forecast of snow, and a phone call from the task owner on the way to our first session of the year saying that the ground was too frozen solid for us to be able to dig, January was being particularly January last night.

Still, we didn't let it hold us back. Wrapping up in as many layers as we could find (well, most of us. There are some hardy souls - I'm looking at you Ealing - who seem weatherproof!) we met up at Chiswick Town hall for our first group run of the year.

We did a quick warm up, cheered Ealing activator Kash for an epically amazing 1000 good deeds, prepared for Gus' 50th celebrations next week (we need to spread out the joy) and then head off into the night to the Chiswick Allotments.

Meeting up with the rest of the team we made ourselves comfortable in the heated hut on site, taking our time saying our happy new years and re-layering up. When we couldn't avoid it any longer we braced ourselves, and made our way outside to tackle the jobs.

The tasks for the evening were to clear a big pile of weeds and transport it to elsewhere on the allotments, and also to clear two patches of ground near the greenhouse of weeds.

We cracked on with the jobs. As the pile grew smaller, the weeding team worked hard removing all the grass and other plants away so that the grave of the late allotment cat, Catkin, could be revealed properly. Great work in tough conditions everybody!

On our way back to base, we discussed whether a fitness session was on the cards, or if heading straight to the warmth of the pub was a better idea. I'll let the reader guess the outcome!

Here are the upcoming sessions I mentioned - there's plenty to chose from! Tomorrow there is a brilliant session to help preserve vole habitats along the riverfront and on Sunday there is a litter pick followed by speed session - feel free to come for either or both parts!