Eight GoodGym members turned out to help out at Strand on the Green School, even if one of us was late for registration.

We split into two teams and got straight to work around the pond area. One group — Florian, Michelle, Maxime and Chris — took on the tough task of clearing ivy from the wall surrounding the pond, making a big dent in what had become an impressive tangle.

Meanwhile, Lucy, Breda, Emily and Gus (once he eventually made it through the school gates — detention!!) got stuck into scrubbing the deck around the pond. Extra care was taken not to disturb the pond life, proving that speed and sensitivity can go hand in hand.

Armed with headtorches and running lights, we worked quick as a flash. Before long the jobs were done, it was time to run back, squeeze in some light stretches, and then — naturally — head to the pub.

Coming up this Saturday in Hounslow:

Our rearranged community mission with Friends of Harvard Hill, planting donated trees 🌱 https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/tree-planting-session-at-harvard-hill

A session helping out at Baron's pond in Gunnersbury https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/help-get-baron-s-ponds-ready-for-spring

Plenty more chances to get involved — hope to see lots of you there!

Big changes had happened in the week since Mrs J's last GoodGym mission. Some plans had moved forward, like the electrician rewiring the house and painting had started in the bedrooms. Other plans had changed and the wardrobes that Sevan emptied of clothes last week were now going to be kept, not replaced by new units. The Swedish death cleaning had also proved to be too much to take on all at once, so some belongings were being moved to storage for now.

The 4 wardrobes now being kept were the main feature of today's mission as they had to be moved into another room across the landing. First, Kash and Sevan, helped by Mrs J's relative, pushed the existing furniture out of the way in the destination room to make space. They found out that the large corner sofa was a big jigsaw puzzle with interlocking pieces, meaning they could lighten it to shift it. They also learned that everything was interconnected. Moving one thing caused a domino effect, with other items toppling over, so they had to be very careful.

Once the destination room was ready, Sevan looked at the wardrobes and thought they wouldn't fit through the doors. Each of the 3 doors was tighter than the previous one, looking like matryoshka, and all but one of the wardrobes were too wide to pass on their back and too deep to pass sideways. That was a puzzler. While Kash and Sevan moved vintage furniture downstairs for donation and clothes upstairs to lighten the wardrobes, Mr J removed the tops of the wardrobes, making them much less deep and they also became much more floppy.

Kash and Sevan helped Mr J and his relative move some of the wardrobes on a trolley, guiding them through the narrow doors. They also moved wardrobes themselves. Those with clothes rails more or less held their shape. The one that didn't have a rail started to bow and disintegrate, taking a lot of care for Mr J to get it safely to its temporary new home.

With the wardrobes moved, it was time for some quick refreshments and to catch up on the next steps of Mrs J's treatment before Kash and Sevan ran off to their next mission.

"I need coffee because my body doesn't make it" - Mr J

Sevan and Kash's last mission of the day was a return visit to Ms L scheduled for the 15:30-17:00 slot. The two were stretching the boundaries with the sunset expected at 16:50. With grey skies and persistent drizzle throughout the day, the daylight was precious.

Kash's previous mission for Ms L was a lot about reaching the sky with Steph climbing the ladder to remove the ivy. This week's task theme, on the contrary, was descending to the underground to remove the root of all evil. Kash was hell-bent on digging out the ivy and bramble roots with a big, trenching spade to prevent growth in the spring as much as possible.

Meanwhile, Sevan transcended to the opposite side of the front garden to attack the ivy where it's been neglected during the last three sessions for Ms L. Trying different cutting tools, he removed the vines from the fence and pulled as much ivy as possible from the branches of a dense snowberry bush. As per Ms L's request, he also dealt with faded plastic flowers and threw them into the bin.

Just before 16:50, the lights in the garden started glimmering with a faint, warm glow. They looked magical as the night set in, and were a sign for Sevan and Kash to wrap up. With the invasive species removed and the bulbs kept planted in the ground, Ms L, after saying goodbye to the fake plants, will enjoy the explosion of proper flowers in the spring!

Shopping for Mr K, this time featuring a pack of plasters

GoodGym is nothing if not varied - and that's what keeps it interesting! One week we can be delivering leaflets through hidden culs-de-sac for Wild Chiswick in the icy rain and the next we're assembling no fewer than seven different flat packs ranging from kitchenettes to toddler trampolines!

GoodGym Hounslow really put its collective skills into use last night when we ran to Chiswick methodist Church to help with a flat pack assembly job like no other. This community hub is home to various groups, including the Stroke club, baby and toddler groups and youth activities. Carol, who manages the space, had a huge construction job for us.

This included a mini kitchen, a trampoline, massive media station, two sets of shelves, a baby climbing frame and a decorative arch. It was a true team building exercise, and without any delay, we split into four groups to tackle each kit.

Tish and Beth proved themselves to be experts in shelf-improvement, while Beatrix, Jon and Ariane had a little bounce in their step as they expertly put together the trampoline. Michelle, Steph, Maxime and Luis proved there is no such thing as too many cooks as they created a beautiful kitchen, while Breda, Florian and Kymm were in pole position creating a table arch. Chris alternated between a power drill and an unfeasibly large allen key making sure media stations and climbing frames alike passed all health and safety checks.

Unbelievably, within 45 minutes all flat packs were constructed and put away. Great work everybody, you've more than earned yourself a plate of Swedish meatballs.

If that wasn't challenge enough, we took advantage of the nice warm indoor space to do a quick but intense core session that featured corkscrews, reverse crunches, plank jumps and sprinter crunches. Abs-olutely smashed it, team!

Shopping for Mr K, this time featuring shaving foam.