12 goodgymers assembled to help the Northfield allotments team prepare the petrifying pumpkin trail for locals. We were planning to help out for 3 hours, but after little over an hour we'd checked off all the tasks on our list to great applause. Many hands really do make fright work!

We started the morning by moving the marquee/gazebo (not table) into position and getting the tables out. A mega cleanup mission then commenced as we wiped numerous tables and chairs to get them "allotment" clean. We then got the tables and chairs into position, hung up the pumpkin decorations and popped some lights into the portoloos. A small but mighty team went on a side quest to fill any pot holes along the path with woodchip.

As we finished in record time, we headed to a local coffee shop to refuel. Some of us came back later to make the most of our complimentary entry and refreshment kindly offered by the Northfield allotments team for our efforts.

We were back at Blondin Park tonight to do some mulching around the trees that we prepared recently with digging around. Despite the damp, wet and dark evening a small group of 5 people took their courage and braved the weather. In no time, the team mulched around 12 trees with trips back and forth. Wheel barrows guided by head torches 🔦. Yes its head torch season!! Then we made our way back to the cafe where Linda welcomed us back with some lovely hot chocolates. The conversation went around music tonight and what we listened to when younger or now. Tonight we were a small team of 5 but achieved alot. Was it Girl Power as 4 ladies and 1 man tonight? All I wannabe is a Goodgymer !! 🎶 🎵

Seven months have passed since GoodGym last supported Walpole Park, making it clear that sessions in this beloved green space in the heart of Ealing are very much an autumn-winter thing. The temperatures, however, did little to signal the changing season. GoodGymers still happily sported short sleeves and shorts, while the park, despite being pitch black, teemed with nightlife, wildlife and parklife. Frolicking people and foxes alike were seen – or smelled!

The park welcomed back some seasoned Walpolers: Chris, Harvey, Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash. Amy and Scott, who joined GoodGym over the spring and summer months, got their first taste of a nighttime Walpole Park session. Breda also visited from GoodGym Hounslow and was amazed by the abundance of tools sourced by our friend Richard.

Yes, Richard! The long-missed Ealing Greenwayer, best known to us from Pear Tree Park, made a comeback wearing his kitchen garden volunteer hat. He also hosted a historic session: the first time a task owner was actually present in Walpole Park during one of our activities!

Richard showed us a secret pocket of leafy compost, which we were tasked with moving to the kitchen garden's compost bins. The mulch was very well concealed indeed. Even when led to this obscure (but surprisingly well-lit, thanks to Ealing Studios) spot, the compost was hiding in plain sight.

"We are actually standing on a layer of composted leaves" – Richard.

To get to the mulch, we first had to excavate it. And it wasn't as quick and easy as simply shovelling: the compressed leaves were intertwined with roots. Some of us relished the challenge of seemingly endless digging and the accompanying upper-body workout.

"It's like a canoeing trip. After the first half an hour your arms are dead, but then you're numbed and just carry on." – Amy.

Supplied by Richard with barrows in addition to two larger trolleys, we managed to fill one of the compost bins almost to the brim. It was a successful first Walpole Park session of the season, but surely not the last one. So watch this space for more night-park-life coming up this autumn and winter!

A year after their last volunteering session at Our Lady of the Visitation Primary School in Greenford, a chance encounter in central Ealing brought Team GoodGym back to find out what had happened to the planned wildlife reserve. Last year a veg patch and the pond were well established, with the rest of the space still needing to be cleared and planted.

Returning today, Rachel and her keen pupils had been busy. They had:

• Completed the woodchip path
• Grown some beautiful sunflowers
• Planted wildflower seeds to create a Nectar Highway
• Created a hedge-y area to attract hedgehogs
• Been studying the lifecycle of hundreds of newts in their pond

Lots of discoveries for curious minds.

Other things hadn't changed from last year. The path through the wildlife reserve had again become a bramble highway. This was not the type of highway the school wanted to encourage. Most of the brambles were rooted in the flowerbeds off the path, so while some of the team got chopping, others dove into the dried out beds to dig out any roots that they could.

Therese, Maria, Kash and Steph chopped and dug their way through the whole session, clearing the space. As the bramble levels dropped off, Amy, Scott and Sevan moved onto task 2, emptying the soil from giant planters. Task owner Rachel saved the plants that had survived the summer, then the planters were dragged across the playground. The soil was dug out and placed in ton bags until they were light enough to lift and tip what was left. Six planters later, they were done.

Everyone enjoyed their session at the school, with some marvelling at how much space the school had available. Rachel was really impressed with what the large team achieved and she still has big plans and projects in the pipeline, so we could be back again, sooner rather than later.

"Thank you so much. Huge difference." - Rachel