400 Good Trees

The life of a Christmas tree is not for everyone. First, you grow for years, trying to make it to the tree adulthood. But you don't. If you meet the conifer beauty standards, you are selected to become a part of humans' yearly rituals. You are chopped down, and then, in the afterlife, you rock the contemporary Christmas tree fashion trends. You bear with pride the colourful, shiny baubles that make you stand out. But fame and glamour do not last forever. When the festive excitement fades, you are decommissioned in January. Your former admirers abandon you in front of their house where you wonder if there is any salvation. There is. If you are lucky, you go to Tree Heaven to be reborn as mulch to fertilise the soil that will feed a new generation of plants. A circle of life. Sort of.

Tree Angels

Six GoodGymers acted today as Christmas tree angels (or valkyries). They flew (or jogged) into the streets around Ealing Common to find the lost bodies and souls of conifers, and then deliver them to the Ex-Christmas Tree Heaven.

After his first community mission this Saturday, Madhan showed up for his second one the next day. This guy is on a roll!

There was a high-profile visitor from GoodGym Hounslow, Michelle, who cycled to meet us (and got soaked on the way back).

Sevan and Kash ran from Acton Central where they had already warmed up, volunteering at junior parkrun.

The veterans Jenni and Bryon were a fantastic surprise with their last-minute sign-ups and made us realise we had two meeting points today.

Bryon's 400

On our way to the task, none of us spotted Christmas trees on the streets but we weren't worried that we might have come to Ealing Common for nothing. There was a reason to gather delivered to us by Bryon - his 400 good deeds milestone! It was the highlight of the day.

Trees' final goodbye!

People around Ealing Common had been dropping off their trees in various parts of the green space. We located the legit collection point and split into teams:

• Sevan and Madhan
• Bryon and Kash
• Jenni and Michelle

We were so excited about picking the trees that we forgot to pick the teams' names. We hit the streets and came back with 14 trees collected in 40 minutes.

Jenni and Michelle were clear winners - they matched another team in the number of trees found but came back with the biggest ones. You could tell they are GoodGym hotshots.

After giving a helping hand to the local community, four of us supported local businesses by hitting an independent coffee shop. Caffeinated GoodGymers have more fuel to give back to the community and do good deeds that burn that excess energy, and then GoodGymers go back for a well-deserved coffee. A circle of life. Sort of.