Knock knock knocking on seven’s door

Last night we celebrated seven brilliant years of GoodGym Hounslow in our usual style - completing a local task which would have taken the volunteers many hours, some silly fitness which saw us running about like mad people, a trip to the pub and of course, many laughs. Long may it continue!

We started off by meeting Jan of Friends of Turnham Green, to scarify and rake a huge area ready for bulb planting. Rakes in hand we formed an efficient line along the grass and took turns getting the soil ready and picking up the waste. Jan was impressed with how much ground the team covered, remarking how much time we have saved the volunteer group. Great work everybody. We even had a surprise visit from Beth, fresh off the plane from NYC with her marathon bling around her neck - amazing job Beth!

Next we moved on to fitness, and a typically chaotic game. This year we played something I like to call 'Now We Are Seven', a challenge which consisted of two teams fighting it out to see who knows more about GG Hounslow and the local area. Taking it turns to grab a clue, the idea was that every does seven reps of whatever exercise was on the paper, and answers a tricky question. These included posers such as 'how many good deeds have been completed in Hounslow so far?' (an enormous 4545), how many underground stations are there in Hounslow, and how many bulbs are there to plant at this Saturday's mission. In a nail biting final, it was Team Awesome that won by a hair, and magnanimously chose to share their prize with everybody.

A huge thank you to each and every one of you for all your efforts and enthusiasm. Even when it's wet and cold, there aren't enough tools to go around, it's dark and we don't know what we're doing and I make you do some ridiculous fitness challenge, you always have a smile on your face and bags of energy. Thanks for being a great team that really support the local community. Here's to the the next seven years of GoodGym Hounslow!