Report Title : Big Hedge-party(birthday time)

Five goodgymers warmed up at the Chiswick townhall to run roughly 1.3km and meet two Goodgym cyclists and Jo from Wild Chiswick at the corner of Spencer Road(Grove Park Area). Prickly community mission tonight to deliver leaflets at houses around Grove Park Area. Raising awareness about creating safe hedgehog habitats locally. Jo handed the leaflets to the team and they all started the prickly shuffle around the area with a mixture of running and walking. Once the team covered the area Jo suggested, they meet again with her and Jo was very thankful to have a team of Sonic Hedgehog’s running around to support their organization. The team ran and cycled back to Chiswick to stretch and go for food and a drink, not to forget a piece of cake as it was Leticia birthday recently. The cake was not Sonic the Hedgehog, but Colin the Caterpillar. It was unspiketably good!!! Great achievement for Emily as reached 300 good deeds today!!!

Suns out, spades out!

It was the loveliest day of the year so far, which always fills us with Vitamin D fueled energy. Which was good news as we had a big task to reclaim some overground areas in Chiswick.

After a very short run we arrived to meet Karen from Abundance London, who had brought with her a barrow full of tools. There is a set of beds right by the busy A4 that have become really neglected. Abundance have cleared one and planted it with lots of pollinators, o there was a stark difference between the cared for space, and the overgrown, litter strewn area we were there to tackle.

We wasted no time (and I even managed to remember to take a 'before' shot, so you can really see how much we got done) getting stuck in. Out came bindweed, cans, bricks, some wrangled metal, a broom head and more weeds than you can shake a fork at.

We were doing so well that a splinter group featuring Chris, Alan and Gus even moved over the road to work on pulling up grass and clearing another area. While we worked we remarked how just a little care makes a big difference. If passers by see well-loved, neat and flourishing beds they are much less likely to chuck their litter there and much more likely to want to take some ownership for its upkeep. So well done everybody, it really is time well spent.

After finishing up we made our way back to the green. Thanks to the rain it had been a while since we'd had an opportunity to do a proper core session so we took advantage of the lovely weather to knock out a series of exercises aimed at strengthening our abs. Just look at those happy faces in the photos!

On Saturday there is a great community mission to plant at Harvard Hill. So far we have no sign up so it would be wonderful if you had a short window to spare to lend a hand! Here are all the details you need.

Happy GGing everybody!

It was the perfect evening for a spot of GoodGyming last night. With clear skies and warm weather, we met at Cavendish school, a regular task location for us, to help with the ongoing improvements the new caretaker is bringing in.

First stop was to take a look at the nature project we've been helping with, and it was fantastic to see new pathways and big compost bins had appeared. After firefighting the weeds and overgrowth for so long in the past it feels great to see real progress happening - we'll be back again soon to support some more!

Our job for the evening was in the school grounds themselves, and it was a biggie. We were tasked with moving a huge pile of green pine cuttings over to the playground area to provide a soft surface underneath the climbing frames. So with Chris and Florian taking charge of shoveling the big pile of pine, and Suze, Luis, Emily, Tish and Jon transporting it over to the site, while Michelle and Remy raked, we were soon operating like a finely oiled machine.

Before we knew it, we were all smelling very Christmassy, and the playground had a brand new covering. We just had time to knock out an intense glute session whilst trying to remember the Superman theme song. After a quick Swan Lake recital from Michelle, we recreated one of the best GG Hounslow photos to date, and then headed out. Thanks for an amazing effort last night everyone!

Don't forget we have a couple of missions coming up which could definitely do with a few sign ups! Especially this one to help plant at Harvard Hill and next week's lunchtime shift at Hounslow foodbox which is also looking very quiet!

Next week we're going to be helping Abundance London reclaim an overgrown area in Chiswick, see you there!

It was a double header last night in Hounslow! With two tasks to choose from, there was something for everybody. We also got a chance to welcome Beata to her first Hounslow session - great to have you join us!

Those that preferred a shorter run/walk to a local organisation took on the weeding task at Chiswick Methodist church, led by Michelle. What sounded initially like a relatively light job actually turned out to be quite the session. Luckily, as Michelle put it, they took it very methodically....have a look at the impressive before and after photos to see what the group managed to achieve. They also had birthday girl Alanna there to keep spirits up - many happy returns to the lovely lady herself on her special day! When the group is reunited next week we'll give you the bumps.

The second group set off on a slighter longer, and arguably somewhat less scenic route to Gunnersbury Park where a hefty job relocating logs waited for us. We used what three words to find the exact location, running past many very much smaller piles of logs en route. When we finally did arrive, we realised the scale of the task. There was no shortage of enthusiasm though, and we started shifting the logs as fast as our legs could carry us. Until, that was, we discovered a section of the local wildlife that had made the pile its home. Lifting up the wood we found lots of little families of frogs nestled in the mud. So as not to disturb their peace, we gently worked around the tiny amphibians, and soon only the giant unliftable logs were left. Great work everybody.

Next week we're off to do another stint at the Cavendish Nature area, so pack your gloves ready for the next step in this exciting project.

Have a great run into the weekend GoodGym!