Gloomy and dark Tuesday evening : Steph Ducat was the lead runner today in absence of the usual suspects. Today welcomed Mohamed on his 1st run and community mission with Goodgym. As a duo, both runners set off in the city of light to reach the dark parks of Ealing. Welcome to the dark side : we reached Walpole Park and surprised that on the other side we could see the light at the end of the tunnel but we could not get out as they closed the gate, so a small run back to the next one, which was also locked. U Turn and over the fence as they were locked in :nevertheless the run carried on and reached Blondin Park on time to meet Beata who ran from her side and Augustin joined as he cycled from home. Linda welcomed us and we got the wheelbarrows, shovels, a broom or massive brush, a rack and some plastic bags. Mission in the dark was to clear the leaves off the main path so that the lights on the ground were visible. The 2nd task was to move wood chip from the pile that never seems to disappear to the side of the paths and cover the mud. Head torches on and the team scoped all the leaves and moved quite a lot of wood chip. At the end of the mission, they all went to the pavilion where Linda served nice hot chocolate drinks before disappearing in the darkness of Ealing. Welcome Mohamed to Goodgym.

The Brentford Festival, which the GoodGymers helped set up had ended on Sunday, but the festival gazebos that had partied very hard were now a bit lost in the aftermath. They were the last ones to leave the field by Blondin Park Community Pavillion and now had no idea how to get home. After two days of gazebos not returning to their container, the event manager, Linda, decided it was time for a GoodGym intervention.

Seven GoodGymers (and one GoodGymer-to-be?) ran, walked or cycled to Blondin Park to give the gazebos some comfort and gently pack them away into a cosy storage. Steph gave each gazebo a warm hug to prepare them for spending the upcoming months in the dark sleeping bags, just unfolded by Sevan. Before the tents could make it to the container, Claire and Lena moved festival tables inside first and stacked them neatly.

It was Lena's very first session and she already showed unparalleled enthusiasm for doing good while problem-solving and having fun. Welcome to GoodGym Lena!

With the tables sorted out, the whole team moved on to unfolding and folding back the six-legged gazebos (the monsters-size Gazebos which you should write with a capital G!) to adjust their frames and shake any water off the roofs. The latter looked like an attempt at a mini-storm simulation, with the canvas fluttering dramatically and raindrops sprinkling the faces of GoodGymers caught in a torrential downpour. Was it a prelude to the wet winter tasks outdoors? Hopefully not!

Martin and Gus specialised in compressing the Gazebos and squeezing them into the giant gym bags. One of those covers had a broken zip, and despite Gus' heroic attempts to make it work, the ultimate solution was to use the old-school bungee cord. Steph got caught up in Lena's ritual of wrapping the gazebo bag with the rope and almost ended up as an annual sacrifice to GoodGym gods. Luckily, with his running mastery, he managed to escape last minute!

Five gazebos, dressed in covers or not, made it safely to the container, where they were left to sleep and recover from the festival. It was then that Linda found a couple of rogue gazebo limbs outside! The GoodGymers couldn't tell which of the gazebos might have misplaced parts of their frame, so the spare legs were placed together with the rest of the festival tents to await their next big outing.

Speaking of outings, that Tuesday was a special night for GoodGym Ealing with a pub quiz as a reward for another fantastic month of doing good!

Next Tuesday we are visiting the Impact Theatre again to do prep for painting - sign up here!

If you cannot wait for a group task with us until next week, pop to Horsenden Farm for a task and social lunch with The Horsenden Loaf pizza!

Did you know that Pancake Day always coincides with GoodGym Ealing's group run? This time, Shrove Tuesday also happened to be a Hot Choc Day as we visited Blondin Pavilion, where Linda, the manager, offered us hot drinks again. But we got to work for them first!

The gang welcomed new joiner, Helene, who ran from Bodyline with the running group through Walpole, Lammas and Blondin Parks.

Eight eager GoodGymers showed up at the pavilion, which was a pretty good turnout for an outdoor task in February. Was it the mild weather, the location, the promise of hot chocolate or the task of putting up signs? Who knows! Because there were only four signs to attach, we split into two teams and drew a second job from Linda's deck of task cards. It was... the woodchip!

Team Runway Riot

The Riot team marched with big signs along the pathways in Blondin Park lit with dotted lines of small lights which made them look like an airport runway. Claire was ready to take off! The rioters protested against Blondin Park Pavilion not being sufficiently recognised. They attached the signs to two lampposts and two fences near entrances, using Liv's expert knowledge of the park and Mike's height. Madhan was in charge of trimming the cable ties, which has proven more difficult than putting up the signs!

Team Barrow Barbarians

The group woodchipping the waterlogged edge of a path to the pavilion kept rotating team members between three tasks: loading the wheelbarrows, transporting the woodchip and levelling the unloaded woodchip with a rake. Helene stuck most of the time to the barrow driving, Sevan was perfecting the surface of the woodchipped area and Christos and Kash discovered the quickest way of filling the wheelbarrow with two shovels. The secret was teamwork: breaking down the dense woodchip pile and filling the massive shovel with the help of the smaller one - much faster than shovelling individually!

Wrap-up

After all four signs were up, proudly announcing the presence of the community pavilion in the park, and the source woodchip pile was reduced to a woodchip plainland, the GoodGymers header to the pavilion for hot chocolate and tea. Due to half term, there was no Zumba class tonight, but the silence was quickly filled with chatter.

Next week we'll have a rare chance of an indoor task at Impact Theatre! Fancy a run plus an upper body workout while rubbing down walls before painting? Sign up now!

While the recent storms caused troubles across the country: cancelled flights, power cuts, delayed trains and flooding, GoodGym Ealing was lucky to fit their group run at a time of mild, calm weather. Maybe the perspective of further disruptions didn't encourage a large group of GoodGymers to attend tonight's session, but three runners and one walker stood up to the challenge.

This Tuesday's task had a lot to do with the storms. Linda from Blondin Park Community Pavilion had a few jobs in mind, but what bothered her the most was a large piece of tarp blown off the fencing in front of the pavilion's containers. The GoodGymers decided to let go of the easy-going prospect of woodchip shovelling which is a good workout for the body but not as good for the mind. Instead, they chose to help with Linda's main worry: the windshield. That required some good thinking, coordination, and experimentation.

First, the team detached all the hooks that still held the windshield in place and took the tarp down. The sheet was more than double the width needed to cover the fencing but not long enough to reach the ground when attached to the top of the fence. After exploring different ideas, the GoodGymers put the first layer flat against the fence.

Now the question came back: how to fold the rest of the sheet? Someone suggested that the second layer could make up for the missing length. Linda wouldn't mind cutting the tarp into two to make that happen but Sevan pointed out the material may start fraying at the edge. Another option was to fold the windshield. That required attaching the sheet to the fence where it was supposed to be folded. But there were no loops or hooks! The sheet underwent an operation and had four punctures done by Dr Kash with scissors. Madhan and Steph then locked the hooks of the second layer to the top of the fence while Sevan and Kash, following Steph's idea, used double cable ties to attach the bottom of the tarp to the base of the fence.

Throughout the task, Linda listened to the problem-solving discussions of GoodGymers. She was impressed with the final result and invited the volunteers for a hot chocolate and chat in the pavilion - a great perk of Blondin Pavilion tasks in the winter!

Next week we are running to Acton to do flyering for the upcoming Reduce and Recycle event at Acton Market. Sign up now!

Five Ealing GoodGymers couldn't get enough woodchip last week and signed up for another Tuesday session with a similar task. This time, the location was a breath of fresh air: Blondin Park! Apparently, GoodGym has visited the site before, but no one today, except Sevan, remembered those ancient times.

After Christos, Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash ran through three Ealing parks(!) - Walpole, Lammas and Blondin - to reach the Community Pavillion, they spotted four wheelbarrows, four shovels and a rake outside the building. Inside, they found Madhan, who walked to the task, and the task owner Linda from Blondin Consortium.

Linda had asked us for help with moving the woodchip pile delivered to Blondin Park and distributing the chips across two locations: the memorial tree planted by the pavilion and the bedding right in front of the woodchip pile. She also promised hot chocolate! ☕

We got straight to work and rotated between shovelling and driving wheelbarrows to the drop-off location. Shovelling turned out to be a proper full-body workout!

It didn't know I had those muscles! - Christos

Steph chose a significantly oversized shovel. We asked him a few times whether he wanted to swap tasks with others and drive a wheelbarrow a couple of times. Steph was adamant that he would continue the tough shovelling job.

No pain, no gain! - Steph

Madhan volunteered to do all the raking of the bedding by the woodchip pile. He also became the manager of the goods-in department, directing the wheelbarrow drivers to the strategic woodchip drop-off points.

After 50 minutes of hard work, the woodchip pile was less than half its original size. We reported back to Linda and were invited inside the pavilion to use the amenities and treat ourselves to some well-deserved hot chocolate - warm, thick and sweet! 😋 When chilling out after the task, we heard loud music coming from next door - a bunch of ladies were attending a zumba class in the centre. Hopefully, no one told them that our woodchipping session was the coolest one that night! 😜

Next week we are off to Acton to take a break from woodchipping. We will be demolishing another batch of Cultivate's property: two cages! The less destructive task would be sweeping leaves from a schoolyard. Sign up now!