GoodGymers took a stroll through the deep dark wood.
Elsa saw them and GoodGymers looked good.

Elsa, from Friends of Horsenden Hill, knew the fearless 14 GoodGymers who arrived at Horsenden Farm on a sunny Saturday were the only team large and brave enough to work so close to where the Gruffalo lurked in the woods behind the farmhouse.

First, she asked Gus, Steph Ducat and Richard to gather the timber stacked beside the farmhouse and reinforce the dead hedge. A sturdy barrier against the hungry Gruffalo, perhaps?

Next, Elsa sent Afshin, Iram and Kash to wheelbarrow a mountain of green waste - rotting onion tops, spoiled peppers, pattypan squash and potatoes - to a spot near the canoe club. Was this a cunning plan to tempt the Gruffalo towards the canal instead of the farm?

Finally, Elsa recruited Andrew, Breda, Emma, Harvey, Melissa, Penny, Scott and Sevan for an enormous weeding job, hoeing and scraping the grass and weeds from the path leading to the Gruffalo's lair. Surely she wasn't making it easier to spot the monster's turned-out toes? Not at all. By clearing away the soft carpet of greenery, she'd ensured that if the Gruffalo sneaked in to steal the pigs, the scrape of his terrible claws against the hard, dry ground would give him away long before he reached the farm.

With the farm secured from its fearsome woodland neighbour, the GoodGymers, led by Elsa's trusty dog Archie, headed through the deep dark wood, following the heavenly aroma of Horsenden's famous pizza. Then, suddenly, they stumbled upon... the Gruffalo!

"Here's my favourite food!" the Gruffalo said. '"GoodGymer crumble!"

But one sniff of the pizza wafting through the woods changed his mind. By the time he reached the farm, there wasn't a slice left. The well-fed GoodGymers simply strolled past the Gruffalo's lair on their way to their second task at the top of Horsenden Hill, leaving the poor monster to rummage through the pile of green waste by the canal in search of a few scraps of rotten onion.

A mega turnout for GoodGym Hounslow on Wednesday evening - clearly everyone was very excited for Lucy to lead the group run! Or maybe something else was bumping up the numbers?

Welcoming the group, including John and Jacqueline from Camden who were visiting, we warmed up (not that we needed it with the heatwave), and made our way to Strand on The Green School. Claire from the school had a quartet of tasks lined up for our masse of GoodGymmers, and under Lucy’s leadership, the group split into four to take on each of the jobs.

Emily & Eloise were joined by Michelle and Leticia to touch up the paint job around the picket fencing on the children’s playground, but also a good excuse for a catch up over brush strokes, as Tish was back visiting from the far South West. Once a Hounslow GoodGymmer, always a Hounslow GoodGymmer!

The second group were made up of four of the biggest, bravest and strongest of the gang: Jonathan, Kash, Ariane and Augustin. They stepped up to the challenge of moving heavy and bulky wooden blocks and boards up the winding stairs and to one of the outdoor classrooms upstairs. A couple of ‘pivot PIVOT’s later, and some flexing from Kash (she’s a MACHINE), the goods were moved from A to B.

Group three were team weeding; clearing the overgrowth around the sides of the paths, which was made all the nicer by being perfectly in the golden hour sunlight. Kymm, John, Jacqueline and Maxime got to it, whilst the final group with the rest of the rapscallions made their way back to the entrance gates to take on some overgrown bushes. Chris, Matt, Steph Ducat, Alan, Breda, Jon and Florian armed themselves with choppers, before being joined by Bethan and Divya with brooms and tarpaulin, and started to attack the out of control shrubbery and move the cuttings into the waste skip.

With such bumper numbers, we smashed the tasks out the bag tonight. There was even some time for games (Matt had found a cow whilst bush bashing, and Steph almost a complete building bricks set!), and more importantly a fashion show from our very stylish Gus. He proved that sometimes fashion is fast, when you’re as efficient at completing good deeds as him.

We tidied up, took a group snap and Claire waved us off into the sunset to make our way back to the Town Hall. Once we’d had a cool down, it was off to the Packhorse for a very special post-task pub session.

Our fantastic turn out might have had something to do with the fact that we had Emily & Eloise helping out, and for Emily, it will be her last official good deed for a while, as she is due to have a baby girl next week! Eloise (& I should say Matt too!) are following suit with their little bundle of joy coming in September.

In true GoodGym Hounslow style, we wanted to give our Mumma’s to be a proper send off. So much so that even friends that couldn’t make the task had come for the celebrations! GoodGymmers are known for doing good and getting fit, but we decided to add a dash of creative flair into the mix. A handful of the gang had been squirrelling around, and meeting up to learn how to knit (or in Remy’s case, take out her emotions onto 23 little crocheted squares). Holly had led our contrive, and had somehow made all our little stitched squares into two beautiful baby blankets for the impending arrivals.

Presenting the soon-to-be parents with home made gifts really did show us what GoodGym is all about. The community, the friendships, and of course, the cake (deliciously made by Michelle).

Emily - we all wish you the best with the future and your new little bundle of joy. Eloise & Matt - we will see you next week at GoodGym, where Steph is leading our task to Harvard Hill! We can’t wait to meet the newest members of our GoodGym family.

This week we headed back to the beautiful grounds of Chiswick House, where we visit regularly to keep this historic green space looking its best. It helps keep the gardens and grounds free for everyone to enjoy, and it is always rewarding to know that an hour or so of work has a lasting impact on a community space.

A special welcome to Emma, who joined us for her very first GoodGym Hounslow session! Great to have you join us.

After a warm up and a quick run, we met up with the rest of the group, grabbed our tools and got straight to work on two important conservation tasks.

Our first job was tackling epicormic growth—the shoots that sprout from the trunks and lower branches of trees. While these shoots are a natural response to stress, they divert energy away from the healthy canopy and can affect the tree's long-term health. Removing them helps put energy where it's needed most.

Our second task was trimming back the browse line—the lower branches that create a neat line beneath the tree canopy. The name comes from the height at which deer naturally browse leaves in woodland. Maintaining this browse line improves visibility and allows more light to reach the ground, supporting a greater variety of plants and wildlife.

As always, there was plenty of conversation while we worked. Topics ranged from upcoming races and ambitious cycling adventures to remarkable hospital coincidences and plenty of plans for future events. Time flies when you're catching up with good company!

With an impressive number of trees tended to, we headed over to the estate yard for fitness. Tonight it was Tabata - a high-intensity interval workout consisting of short bursts of hard work followed by brief recovery periods. It's fast, energetic and efficient. There were plenty of laughs, lots of determination, and some truly impressive squats on display!

Next week we're off to help at a local school. Hope to see lots of you there! Sign up here for all the details

Breda and Michelle stayed behind to help the Friends of Watermans Park pack everything away, after the third concert of the summer series had finished.

The gazebos came down without too much trouble, the deck chairs and cushions were stacked away in the storage unit, and, most impressively of all, the bunting was retrieved with minimal fuss. Breda’s pre- event negotiations over where it should be hung paid off handsomely, saving multiple trips up the ladder and proving that a little strategic planning really does go a long way.

Another successful concert packed away, ready for the Friends of Watermans park to do it all again next Saturday, for one last time this summer.

Five GoodGymers were on hand to help set up the third of four free summer events at Watermans Park.

Kai, Kash, Michelle and Breda took on the now-familiar challenge of erecting three gazebos. By this point, you’d think we’d have cracked it. Not quite, but Philippe came to the rescue and normal service was resumed.

Next came the bunting. As we discovered the last two saturday's there seemed to be enough of it to decorate the Thames towpath all the way to Kew. Before a single flag was tied, Breda opened early negotiations with Sevan and Kash over the optimal bunting locations, with one eye firmly on making the evening pack down as painless as possible… more on whether that strategy paid off later!

With gazebos standing, bunting fluttering and the bandstand looking suitably festive, the whole set-up was wrapped up in around half an hour. That left plenty of time for what is now becoming a Watermans tradition: the pre-performance pilgrimage in search of ice lollies.

Goods secured, we had our hydration break before Kai Sevan and Kash headed back closer to home and Breda and I returned to the park to watch the local acts.

World Cup fever had reached its peak with England’s semi final just hours away, but that meant plenty of time to fit in a good deed before kick off.

We met with tonight’s Manager, Jan from Friends of Turnham Green who gave us a briefing and a tactical run down of the big game and the goals for the evening. There was a trimming and clearing at the edges of the wildflower meadow to be done, litter to be picked, and the plants around the rockery needed a good watering following the wave of warm weather.

Time for kick off. No time to sit on the Spence! Kash and Gus tackled the strimming, whilst Max, Florian, Alan, Michelle and Steph raked up the trimmings, ready to go into one of the big blue Saka’s supported by Lucy. The other rubbish bags were taken on by Breda and Fran, also armed with the infamous Turnham Green tongs, as they Rice-d to defend the area from litter. Emily took it a little bit Eze-r, Pick(ford)ing rubbish and sharing the joys of GoodGym with the locals. Finally, playing up top on his own was Jon and the hose, giving the plants a good old hydration break on the rockery.

Captain Ana called for full time. A team photo to Marc (Guehi) the occasion was taken, and a shout out to the Birthday Boy Alan, who celebrated a big shiny birthday on Monday. Hopefully a big shiny World Cup trophy coming back to England will also celebrate 60 years soon too!

The green was looking a lot less Messi, and Jan was pleased with the results. All that was left was to get ready for the real kick off at 8PM. Kane we bring it home? COME ON ENGLAND.

UPDATE: We in fact did not bring it home, much to our disappointment and now join our French counterparts in feeling miserable because of 11 grown men kicking a ball around. Euro’s in 2 years anyone?