On the last Tuesday of July, the temperatures didn't seem to drop at all, but neither did the number of GoodGymers at our regular weekday evening session! Maybe the holiday season hasn't quite kicked in yet, or perhaps Hanwell is proving just as hot a destination as Ibiza.

Another week of tasks in Hanwell brought ten eager GoodGymers ready to tackle whatever challenge awaited. We were delighted to see Kristian returning for another 7 km run after his GoodGym debut the previous Tuesday, joining Sevan and Kash for the journey. Hanwell brought together locals like Harvey and Richard, alongside regulars living in neighbouring boroughs, Afshin and Ash, making the journey for a Tuesday night workout. Steph Ducat, meanwhile, arrived looking battle-worn after an unpleasant encounter on the road, but wasn't about to miss the task, swapping running for some fresh air and volunteering while he recovers. It was great to see Freya again, and Maria, who cycled all the way from the eastern edge of the borough.

Arriving at the Stables in Brent Lodge Park, the team met Andrea from Hanwell Community Centre, one of the organisers of the Hanwell Hootie - a free, volunteer-led music festival celebrating Hanwell's legendary link to Jim Marshall, "The Father of Loud". Andrea had been rummaging through the Stables' attic in search of a set of rubbish bins that had gone missing in action, but they were nowhere to be found.

Missing bins weren't Andrea's only problem. Huge stacks of boxes had been piled tightly together, blocking access to the Hootie festival furniture. The collection of vintage chairs and sofas is always the first thing we pull out and clean when preparations for the festival begin each year. Now the furniture was completely inaccessible, setting up a headache for whoever needed it next, whether for the Hootie or another community event. Our mission was to undo the chaos caused by another team's haphazard storage of ten drum kits and to save future volunteers from the same predicament.

With twenty keen hands, we quickly rolled up our imaginary sleeves (it was far too hot for actual sleeves) and got to work. After shifting the boxes of drum kits from the first pallet wedged in the doorway, we finally managed to peek into the blocked room and saw... drum roll... even more mountains of boxes. Still no sign of the furniture.

"You know, this is impossible. I think we need to call it off," Andrea admitted, having a moment of doubt.

Impossible? There's no such word in the GoodGym Ealing dictionary! Sevan squeezed between the wall and the towering stacks of boxes to reach the back of the dark, packed room, where he finally spotted the hidden sofas and chairs. The question was: how do we get them out? Sevan reckoned that if we cleared enough space, the team could attack the task from both sides. That's exactly what we did.

Meanwhile, others removed another pallet of drum kits and freed the first sofa. The chairs and another couch soon followed it. The seemingly insurmountable challenge quickly turned into child's play for our large, well-coordinated team. Oh, and did I mention that Harvey found the missing bins?

We finished well ahead of schedule, neatly reorganising the furniture into an accessible space in the middle of the Stables and returning all the drum kits and amps to the side room. It was a solid functional workout, with enough lifting to get everyone sweating but enough teammates to make it fun and surprisingly easy.

Next week, our run heads to another corner of the borough for a mulching session. Expect plenty of shovelling, wheelbarrowing and teamwork. Sign up now!

Sixteen months have passed since GoodGym Ealing visited the IMPACT Theatre, a place where adults with severe learning disabilities can develop communication skills and confidence through performances on stage and creative arts.

Just like previously, the GoodGymers were contacted as trusted DIY experts when the time came to redecorate one of the art centre rooms - this time, the Creative Health Room, used for activities like yoga.

Three runners, Steph Ducat and Kash, led by Sevan, ran to the task from Ealing Broadway, Amy and Richard biked to Perivale individually, and Maria walked to the session, and then decided she wouldn't mind a few extra minutes in the outdoor gym while waiting for the others.

When task owner Peter opened the door, he was a bit surprised to find a larger group than those who had been visiting in the last few sessions.

"Is this a firing squad?" - Peter.

The arrivals turned out to be peaceful, and they decided to direct their energy towards the walls that needed prepping for painting. Who needs sandy beaches on a hot summer evening when you can have sandpaper! Different heights of GoodGymers came in handy while focusing on different parts of the four walls. One surface needed a particular smooth finish - the wall intended to become a projector display.

The team got to sanding, filling the room with constant rustling and raising plenty of dust. Peter equipped GoodGymers with face masks (who doesn't have a stock of spare face masks after 2020?) to reduce the amount of dust they inhaled.

After all the walls became nice and smooth, Richard fired up Henry the Hoover and did a round around the edges of the room to vacuum up the dust. Peter thanked everyone for the great job, then the GoodGymers ran, walked or cycled home - apart from the Frenchmen and Spaniards, who headed to the pub to catch the last minutes of their countries’ semi-final match.

Next week we are back for an outdoor task - but worry not - we'll be safe in the shade of the Half Acre woods while cutting back the wild summer growth to improve accessibility of the public paths. Sign up now to join us!

If anyone tells me that burdock removal tasks throughout the summer can ever get boring, I'll ask them to think twice! Last Tuesday evening's session started like an action film, with three runners: Sevan, Steph Ducat and Kash, galloping at race pace and adding an extra kilometre and a half to retrieve a mission-critical item for the evening: the tool store keys that Kash had forgotten at home. What this extreme heat does to our brains!

Fortunately, the legs coped better with the heat than some of the brains. The racing trio arrived only two minutes late, while cyclists Amy and Scott and walkers Yonas, Harvey and Richard were already waiting at the task. The action-film atmosphere continued as Kash navigated the site's complicated security system and finally liberated the tools.

Eight GoodGymers grabbed a pair of wheelbarrows, a couple of spades and a collection of loppers, then set off to face all the burdock in Elthorne Park they hadn't tackled at last month's session and which had had time to grow. Many of the plants had already started producing sticky burrs. Amy and Kash, with hair a bit longer than the rest of the group, could testify to that.

"Actually, those burrs don't stick to my hair. It's my hair that sticks to them." – Amy.

Hitching a ride in people's hair and clothes or dogs' fur is burdock's prime strategy for travelling long distances and colonising new territory. And that's not its only trick. A single plant can produce thousands of seeds, allowing it to spread rapidly and outcompete surrounding plants for sunlight, water and nutrients. That's why GoodGymers regularly visit Elthorne Park in the summer to keep its expansion in check.

This time, the ranger asked us to focus on the outliers - not the dense patches where burdock was already established, but the lone plants and small clusters threatening to spread across the fields and along the paths.

After clearing the path on the way to the main burdock patch, the team spread into smaller groups across the large field, venturing almost as far as the Bambi statue. Everyone did a tremendous job, greatly reducing the spread of burdock across the park. A special thanks goes to Yonas and Scott, who tirelessly wheelbarrowed the cut plants to a pile away from the main visitor routes.

It was Scott's very first GoodGym session, but you'd never have guessed it - he tackled burdock like a seasoned pro. Well done, Scott, and welcome to GoodGym! We're hoping to see you again soon.

After another successful evening keeping Elthorne Park's burdock under control, we're already looking ahead to the next adventures. This weekend we'll be back in Hanwell helping HANGOT maintain their community fruit orchards, and next Tuesday Sevan will lead us to Perivale to support Impact Theatre by sanding walls ahead of painting. We are hoping to see you there!

The William Hobbayne Centre, home to one of the UK's oldest charities in Hanwell, has hosted many memorable events over the years where GoodGymers have lent a helping hand. From hearty dinners at Burns Night to fundraising quizzes and youth performances by the Terry Marshall Academy, the centre has seen all kinds of gatherings. But this Tuesday evening, the backyard hosted a very different kind of gig.

Taking to the stage was the 7 Scratchers Army, pioneers of the industrial symphony.

If you've never heard of them, you're clearly not keeping up with Hanwell's music scene. The 7 Scratchers Army - although not always with the same seven musicians, and not always with seven performers at all - had been touring the William Hobbayne Centre for years. Their concerts usually coincide with the start of festival season, when the weeds are at their tallest and greenest, or with the end of summer, when the wind of change sends leaves drifting into the courtyard.

Their biggest audience, however, has always been the thick carpet of moss covering the concrete. The moment the 7 Scratchers Army stepped onto the stage, the moss almost peeled itself off the ground in anticipation, eager to see the hoes gleaming in the early evening sunshine.

Like every over-the-top rock band, the Scratchers brought an outrageous collection of instruments: mighty brooms, sturdy hoes and even snow shovels, despite it being late June.

Harvey, Steph, Lena, Amy, Sevan, Richard and Kash launched enthusiastically into one of their greatest hits, filling the air with the unmistakable sounds of scraping, sweeping and scratching. The rhythmic brushing of brooms blended with the harsher percussion of hoes and shovels before giving way to the gentle rustle of dry leaves and litter disappearing into Greener Ealing bags. You might have recognised the band’s classic Smells Like Greener Ealing there. The performance was so powerful it could probably be heard as far away as Sandy Park, perhaps reaching The Green W7 or maybe even all the way to The Fox.

June from the Hobbayne Charity, the sole member of the audience for this exclusive performance, noticed that the stage lacked decoration. She decided it needed flower garlands along the fence - but there was one problem: no tools! Without missing a beat, Richard dashed home to fetch his toolbox, returning before the next song, Screwing in the Name Of, began. Moments later, the soundtrack gained an unexpected electric guitar solo: the buzz of screws being driven into the fence.

Suddenly, the whole stage burst into bloom. Steph even wore a flower behind his ear, as if he were about to go to San Francisco with flowers in his hair. Surrounded by floral garlands, with brooms, hoes and shovels still playing their final movements, the Industrial Symphony reached its grand finale: Sweep Child O' Mine. June applauded enthusiastically.

As the last notes faded, the dust settled, and the low evening sun lit up the transformed courtyard. Gone were the litter, leaves, weeds and moss. In their place stood a tidy outdoor space, brightened with colourful flowers. Only then did the seven GoodGymers realise they hadn't actually been performing a concert at all. They had been volunteering at the William Hobbayne Centre, helping prepare the outdoor space for the charity's upcoming event. They even brought the chairs and tables from the centre so they could be easily pulled out of the outdoor storage when the celebrations began. Not bad for just one hour's work!

The 7 Scratchers Army will be back on the Hanwell tour next week, this time at Elthorne Park. Fancy joining the band? Whether they become Eight or Nine Scratchers is entirely up to you: Sign up now!