As Storm Amy approached Ealing, a whirlwind of West London GoodGymers landed at Horsenden Farm. A strong team of seventeen hasn't been seen in Ealing for a long time. It took the joint forces of Ealing, Hounslow and Richmond to build a do-good brigade so large that it surprised even the task owner, Elsa, who scrambled to find more tasks for them.

We welcomed two new joiners, Bernadette and Tom, who chose to kick off their GoodGym adventure dangerously close to the Gruffalo Trail at Horsenden Hill. With such an impressive team, the chances of being eaten by a Gruffalo were close to zero. At the same time, the odds of having fun with good company while getting active in nature before eating carb-heavy, cheesy goodness from a local bakery were very high!

Our regulars from the Hounslow group runs had a chance to welcome back the unstoppable Lucy after the break she had to take in the last couple of weeks. Great to see you again, Lucy!

Two of the tasks given by Elsa had a lot to do with the mysterious disappearance of Horsenden pigs. The first assignment, taken by Steph Ducat, Iram, Kymm and Gus, was to transfer hay from the broken-down hay bales to the former pig quarters and spread it on the ground. I chose to believe it was to secure the traces of a pignapping crime until the arrival of the forensics team. Steph described the effort as hay-way to hell as the gusts of wind kept blowing the hay out of the wheelbarrows. Kymm reported there were as many techniques to spread the hay as GoodGymers: from gleeful tossing, through grumpy kicking to methodical arranging.

Sevan and Bernadette had a task of clearing weeds, mostly nettles, near the Horsenden Loaf pizza oven. Sevan shared that they were setting the stage for the hog roast the following day. That shed some light on the disappearance of the pigs - they must have escaped when they heard about the whole hog roast enterprise!

The largest squad undertook a mammoth job of clearing brambles to expand a meadow where the farm cows could graze to help establish a grassland with plenty of wildlife on the slope of Horsenden Hill. Gaby, Ariane, Tom, Mairaj, Maxime, Afshin, Thaiza, Lucy and Kash were chopping, lopping or slashing the blackberry invaders while Anita and Ash raked away the cuttings.

The cherry on a cake was that all the activity was observed through the lens of photographer Laura, who did a great job of not interrupting our tasks while capturing the spirit of GoodGym and the beauty of Horsenden Hill. We are hoping our part-time modelling gig today will help spread the word about GoodGym in the coming months. It will probably also disclose our soft spot for Horsenden pizza!

Inspired by today's task? Join the Horsenden session next month! Sign up now!

After an unexpected delay caused by a broken wrist, GoodGym Ealing were back at Our Lady of the Visitation school in Greenford today to complete a task they started back in May. Two tonne bags full of wood chip were waiting for Mairaj, Kash and Sevan to create a path in a nature reserve requested and designed by the school's children.

The nature reserve was part of a larger transformation at the school, which has reduced their CO2 emissions by 20%, created a vegetable patch complete with baby pumpkins and repopulated a pond with plants, frogs and newts. They'd even made courgette cake for the 480 pupils from some giant marrows they'd grown. This was certainly a worthy cause to be helping during Ealing Climate Week. The nature reserve was looking a little unloved though as trip hazards - like resurgent brambles - meant that it wasn't safe for children to enter. With task owner Rachel, GoodGym would help solve that!

The 2 tonne bags seemed like a huge task for 3 people, especially as they were placed 100m away from the nature reserve site. The wood chip had compressed too after sitting and waiting 3 months for the task to happen. The team worked to loosen up the bag contents as they scooped it into wheelbarrows and they were really efficient at creating the path which Rachel lined with anti-weed matting.

After 40 minutes, Mairaj thought that one of the tonne bags could be lifted and he was right. It was heaved onto the sturdiest wheelbarrow and carefully rolled down to the path and emptied. At that point, everyone realised that with only a quarter of the path covered, they'd need more wood chip to complete job. Well, they could only work with what they had, so a few more wheelbarrows were filled, then the second bag could also be lifted and it was spread in the nature reserve with 10 minutes to spare on the task.

The half of the path was completed, not incomplete, looked great. Another task will be coming soon, as soon as some more tonne bags appear.

We rolled up our sleeves, pulled on wellies, finding the right size gloves at the shed and joined forces for another Green Task at Horsenden Farm today Saturday at 10am

Hedges trimmed, weeds cleared, and compost turned — the hilly aide of back of pizza oven now the flower plantation is looking greener and healthier thanks to all the helping hands. Muddy boots were the badge of honour by the end of it.

The team after the activity was introduced to the pigs snuffling happily for attention, and the chickens clucked around keeping everyone on their toes. Each creature added its own charm to the day. Speaking to Elsa and learning about the animals age and care was a whole new joy.

After the graft came the feast — wood-fired pizza, bubbling with melted cheese, plus refreshing craft beer brewed nearby. Farming energy in, foodie energy out!

The best harvest of the day? Friendship. Making friends with some new faces. Volunteers old and new shared laughs, swapped stories, and left with happy hearts (and maybe a little hay in their hair), Sevan and Steph felt very happy and playful working with hays stacks.

As always, the best part was the people — regulars and newcomers: Afshin and Thaiza working side by side, making a difference and having fun.

👉 I had to head off a little early to catch a family fun day festival (sorry Kash will make it up next time) 🎶, but the farm vibes and friendly faces definitely made my Saturday extra special.

Until next time — keep it green, keep it fun, and keep it Horsenden!