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....

Foreman Michelle's head torch cast a strong beam of light that cut through the darkness in Walpole Park. Her team of four plunged their shovels into bottomless piles of woodchip. The woodchip was to be spread evenly around the bases of oak trees along a path - or at least that was what the team believed in.

Two floodlights and five head torches seemed like a glimmer against the pitch-black night. But Foreman Michelle could see very well whether Alan and Sevan covered the tree roots with the standard 20 cm layer of mulch and whether the amount of woodchip that Steph and Kash loaded each time into the wheelbarrow didn't exceed the acceptable health & safety regulations.

After hitting the target of 8 trees mulched, Michelle decided it was knocking-off time. The team returned the tools to the storage, cleaned the wheelbarrows and set off to their homes for rest as the next day another work shift awaited at Gunnersbury Park.