Breda and Gus met Annie who has been coming to the task via Goodgym a few times but unfortunately with no other Goodgymers.

Quite a few other volunteers with Thames21, some which travelled quite a bit to come to the task. After a quick safety briefing and dressing up in our wellies, we headed to the eyot for a massive clear up. Most started on the far end of the island clearing up massive overgrowth while another team started uncovering old piles of previous clearups.

After a while everyone joined forces to continue on a pre-existing dead hedge. This dead hedge should give birds a place to nest when the island floods at high tide.

After three hours or hard work, it was time for rehydration. The nearby Fullers gift shop was a salvation

Last night, GoodGym Hounslow headed to the High Street to lend a helping hand at one of the many Abundance Gardens scattered around Chiswick .These little green pockets are so important in our busy urban environment. They brighten up our streets, support wildlife, provide habitats for insects and other creatures, and give local people something lovely to look at. Last year, we planted bulbs in the beds, and the results have been brilliant. Local people commented on the difference, there was less litter around the area, and robins were spotted for the first time! 🐦 A positive impact all round.

🍂 This time, our mission was to clear away fallen leaves, tackle the weeds and get the soil ready for the next round of planting. The garden sits right in front of a nursery, so it's a little patch of nature that the children and waiting parents can enjoy.

In just half an hour, we'd collected plenty of bags of garden waste, cleared the area and got things looking much tidier. We also uncovered a healthy habitat for hundreds of snails! 🐌 That's got to be another indicator of a healthy biodiverse environment, right?

With the bags collected and the wheelie bin back in place, the garden was looking much better and ready for imminent planting.

💃 From gardening gloves to dance moves…

Of course, no GoodGym session would be complete without a little fun. As we shifted the bags and replaced the bin, plans were already afoot to recreate the latest viral dance for our socials. Community and choreography go hand in hand.

And the timing couldn't be better, because GoodGym Hounslow is turning TEN next week! 🎂🎉

We're planning a very special celebration, and we'd love you to be part of it. Don't miss out – sign up here and come celebrate ten years of running, helping out and making a difference together!

There's also a lovely task coming up this Saturday at the neurodisability hospital It's a really worthwhile mission and not too far away, so hopefully see some of you there!

Another week, another little corner of Hounslow made brighter. See you at the next one, GoodGymers! ❤️

Wednesday Autumn evening and 3 runners Jon, Maxime and Steph Ducat ran together from Chiswick Town Hall to Dukes Meadows Community Centre with Jalal cycling alongside. Alanna and Michelle walked there to meet Rodgers and Karen who were looking forward to welcoming GG Hounslow. We had a massive pile of soil to move in order for Rodgers to have the space clear and setup some beds for future planting. we had spades, forks, 2 wheelbarrows and one of Stephs favorites a matlock which came in handy!! During our task, a lady from the Community centre came out to give us cookies that the youngsters made. Our motivation went up a level and we agreed to eat them at the end 😋. We definitely enjoyed them. In no time the small team moved the pile of soil - roughly 200 kg. Rodgers will be able to start his beds. No fitness session as this was a good workout for all, but the runners did have a stretch at the end of the run back to the town hall.

The cookie Monsters are not that scary and did a great job tonight.

We were back at Chiswick House last night for another lovely GoodGym Hounslow session, and what a treat we had in store: two tasks, both indoors! It was especially good timing with the evenings drawing in.

Chiswick House is a wonderful local resource and the team keep our green spaces thriving, protect their heritage and make them welcoming places for the whole community to enjoy. By helping with the behind-the-scenes jobs, we’re doing our bit to support a special place for local people.

We met up with Poppy and split into two teams to tackle our tasks for the evening.

🌱 Team Seeds

Half the group headed inside to sort through seeds collected from the garden and carefully pack them into pouches. These seeds will either be resown to help grow more beautiful plants or sold to raise funds for the charity. It was peaceful, chatty work, with plenty of time to catch up and discuss everything from the Pope to our upcoming birthday! Proof that chatting while GGing throws up some of the most interesting conversational topics.

🌿 Team Willow

Meanwhile, over in the barn, the other team got busy stripping willow branches before carefully manoeuvring them into arches. These will be planted to support the flowers in the herbaceous borders, helping them grow securely.

This task took a fair bit of skill and dexterity, but GoodGym Hounslow were more than up to the challenge! There were expert demonstrations of willow stripping, along with a spot of country dancing - anyone else remember the Stripping the Willow formation?

It was a thoroughly wholesome and productive evening, with plenty achieved and lots of good company along the way.

🏃 We rounded off the evening with a run back to base, breaking it up with a variety of fitness stations. A little extra exercise to finish off a brilliant session — and some very impressive pictures to prove it!

Next week: We’re heading to Duke’s Meadow to clear a space for young people. Another great opportunity to give something back to our local community, get moving and have a good chat along the way.

See you there, GoodGym Hounslow! ❤️

On Sunday afternoon, Sevan and Kash ran from Greenford to Isleworth to visit Mr A and his wife, who lived in a flat near Syon Lane. Mr A was bedbound and used a large hospital bed in his bedroom, which he wanted to rearrange to suit his needs better.

Both spouses had slightly different ideas about the most practical setup. Mr A needed easy access to his bed and the fridge, where he kept cold water, while Mrs A needed to reach the window to change the curtains regularly.

Sevan and Kash first put their brains to work, mentally shifting the furniture around the room and testing different layouts to work out how everything might fit together. Then came the real-life Tetris: moving the actual furniture and gradually making the room more spacious and practical.

However, once the room had been cleared a little, Mrs A asked whether a large recliner chair from the living room could also be moved into the bedroom. Sevan and Kash went to investigate and found a very large, heavy recliner armchair that didn't look as though it would fit through the doorway.

Mr A recalled that when the chair had originally been delivered, the delivery team had managed to get it through the door in one piece. Encouraged by this useful piece of historical evidence, the GoodGymers measured the chair and the doorways. The measurements didn't provide much reassurance, though: the doorways weren't wide enough for the armchair to pass through upright. Sevan and Kash would have to try turning the chair on its side to see whether it would fit.

Sevan, Kash and Mrs A cleared the route from the living room to the bedroom, and the GoodGymers began their manoeuvre to move the monster chair all the way to its new home. Success! They got it through.

The team rearranged the furniture once more, and this time the transformation was quite dramatic. The recliner chair, hospital bed, kettle table, chest of drawers and wardrobe all found their new locations. The GoodGymers prioritised access to the fridge over access to the window, but Mrs A should still be able to reach it when it's time to change the curtains.

The only downside - something the GoodGymers couldn't have predicted or fixed - was that the recliner chair's remote control, or perhaps the chair's power supply itself, didn't work! Mr A decided he would contact the seller about the issue, so hopefully he'll soon enjoy a comfortable bedroom with a fully functioning recliner.

Mr D struggles to write due to his health so he had some items on the shopping list and had kept some labels for other items. Ham hock and mustard sauce meals were a favourite. Excuse the blurry pic.

As this approach works a treat in another part of west London, maybe this lulled me into a false sense of misplaced confidence because the two items I added to the list for Mr D, I forgot 🤦🏽‍♀️

Hopefully there’ll be another opportunity for me or another kind Goodgymer to bring home the (smoked back) bacon and Richmond sausages I failed to procure!