On a blowy Wednesday evening, we ran up to Popesfield Allotments to continue work on a task that Breda, Maxime and Gus had already made a great start on a few weeks back.

The allotments are managed by Cultivate London, an organisation that creates and supports community growing spaces across west London. Their work helps local people access green space, learn gardening skills, improve biodiversity and grow food locally, making sites like Popesfield a valuable resource for the community.

Our mission for the evening was to empty three large compost beds - or at least make some inroads into the huge piles! The compost itself looked rich and healthy, but unfortunately the tenants had been adding plants infected with blight and other contaminated material. That meant the compost couldn't be reused and needed clearing out completely.

The wheelbarrows were, at best, temperamental. At worst, they seemed actively opposed to the task. There were plenty of spills along the way, but we soon established an effective chain, shovelling, barrowing and emptying at a steady pace. Despite the logistical challenges, we managed to shift an impressive amount of material over the course of the session.

The allotments were buzzing with biodiversity with plenty of woodlice and worms, and as we revealed more of the compost's inhabitants a clever robin appeared and wasted no time taking advantage of the freshly turned soil. It boldly hopped around grabbing as many bugs as it possibly could. It seemed entirely unbothered by our presence and happily watched us while enjoying its feast.

With the compost beds looking much less full, we headed off into the evening. Next week we're back at Chiswick House See you then!

Last night's task was a firm favourite as we returned to find Doddington community garden in full bloom and looking glorious. It's always rewarding to see how much the space changes through the seasons, and even more satisfying to know that the work we've put in over many visits has played a small part in helping it flourish.

It was also fantastic to welcome two new faces to GoodGym Wandsworth. A big hello to Katia and Adam – brilliant to have you along and we hope you enjoyed your first task with us!

Before setting off, it was time for our warm up and our controversial question of the week - which country invented the French fry? Adam and Veronica came up with the correct answer of Belgium, and we headed off towards the garden, where a few GGers were already there and well stuck into the raspberry canes.

Once everyone had arrived, we split into teams and tackled a whole range of jobs. There was soil to be transported up the stairs, which turned out to be quite the workout. Another group set about digging over a badly trampled flower bed (apparently the work of a visiting corporate group – we'll say no more!). Elsewhere, we were busy raking up swathes of yellow grass, composting, pruning and generally doing helpful tasks. We even put some found rubble to good use, stabilising a wonky orange planter and giving it a new lease of life. There was certainly no shortage of jobs to keep us occupied.

With the gardening complete and the tools packed away, we headed down to the square for our fitness session which quickly revealed itself to be a rather intense lower-body blast. Three levels of effort, 45 seconds at a time, and plenty of squats, lunges and pulses later, there were some well worked muscles all round.

After that it was time to choose your own adventure: back home for stretches or onwards to the pub quiz. At the time of writing, no reports of victory have come through on the wires, so the question remains: did GoodGym Wandsworth claim the pub quiz crown? We await news...

Next week we're heading to one of Battersea's most beautiful and oldest churches for another evening of doing good. We'd love to have you join us!