Do you remember the story from the most recent session at Popesfield Allotments, where I noted that GoodGym Ealing hadn't visited Cultivate London's plant nursery for two years? Well, such a gap didn't happen this time! Our team was back within three weeks since the April 2026 session, as we had left a job unfinished, and we don't like that.

So, what do we like? The sound of weeds' roots being seamlessly pulled through a membrane, oh yes! This Tuesday evening task was filled with satisfying ambient noises and a sense of achievement.

Conor, Sevan, Steph Ducat and Kash ran from Ealing Broadway to meet another runner - Harvey, cyclist James and walker Anna.

Anna arrived for her first GoodGym session after being recruited by our mutual friend from LAGER Can - what a brilliant turn of events! Anna likes a good litter pick, but nothing beats a green task closer to nature. She arrived ready with small weeding tools and even offered others her spare gloves, which astonished the regulars - usually it's the other way around with the newbies! Neither gloves nor tools were really necessary as the weeds were extremely easy to pull by hand, and that was an utterly satisfying sensation.

With a team of seven and an hour of pulling, sweeping, bagging and pallet-lifting, we finished clearing the entire membrane area, filling two tonne bags with garden waste. Minus a few holes (made by weeds, not us!), the membrane looked like new.

"You could eat dinner from that!" - Harvey.
"Is it dinner time?"

Next Tuesday, we'll have more gardening to do as we'll be helping gardener Cliff maintain the peaceful space for church-goers and residents of South Ealing at St Mary's churchyard. Sign up now!

After a brief warm-up at the heart of bustling Ealing Broadway, five GoodGymers set off for a sunny run to Acton. Among them: a guest from Barnet, Jacqui, who came to celebrate Steph's 1004th good deed with the Ealing team! We couldn't keep up with Steph's tasking pace, and hadn't managed to update the celebratory red-and-gold cape, so our Frenchman had to fly to Acton with merely a "1000" on his back!

The mighty cape turned out to have a mind of its own, and - maybe aware of incompatibility with the extra 4 good deeds - tried to fly away before the runners reached Ealing Common. Luckily, Sevan backmarked the group, while Conor and Kash obliviously pressed ahead, so no capes have been left behind.

The running team stopped opposite Acton Park (known to GoodGymers mostly as a junior parkrun location) to meet cyclist Maria and runner Harvey. The mission brief was simple: post flyers through houses' and flats' letter boxes to promote Movement on the Mount - a programme supporting women facing challenges accessing exercise, for example, women with low confidence, caring responsibilities, limited income, or from diverse cultural backgrounds. The execution of the task was less straightforward.

The seven leafleteers entered the so-called Acton's Bermuda Triangle: a treacherous area around Birkbeck Grove, Mansell Road and Beardsley Way, where GoodGymers had been lost in the past during flyering tasks, especially after splitting and venturing to a nearby estate. Having covered that part of Acton multiple times since then, our team learned how to navigate those streets - but this time it led to overconfidence as we ventured into forbidden postcodes!

"W4... Hmm, isn't this Chiswick?"
"The leaflet says the eligible attendees are women living in W3."
"Uh-oh!"

Feeling like outlaws, we scrambled to get out of the Hounslow Borough, trespassing on Southfield Recreation Ground - also mostly within W4. It was a nice extra run, though! The route took us back to W3, but we landed in a primarily industrial area and had to wander around looking for residential streets. Eventually, we finished off the leaflets and emerged back on the main road in Acton.

A short run via Uxbridge Road took us to ActOne Cinema - not for the movies, but for a pit stop at their lovely, quiet cafe to celebrate Steph's milestone. Having refilled ourselves with light refreshments (and a box of popcorn on the house), we ran back to Ealing Broadway.

Next week's Tuesday session is at Cultivate London's plant nursery at Popesfield Allotments to continue tidying up the space - sign up here to join us!

GoodGym Ealing's first group run to the Polygon, linked to St Mary's church, took each of the runners back to their childhood. Waiting outside, they wondered what they'd find inside and thought about memories from when they were little.

"[The toys] will probably be sticky" - Freya

They were welcomed by task owner Wei Hei, who introduced them to the jobs for this evening. There were tiny chairs to clean, there were small kitchen toys to be washed and there were big puzzles to be solved. Each big kid chose the task that they would enjoy the most.

Harvey and Freya took the tiny chairs outside into the sun to scrub them down and let them dry. They were careful to not use too little, nor too much detergent as they were warned. Too much would lead to an explosion of bubbles that couldn't be rinsed away, but the pair got it just right.

Conor and Jo went into the adult sized kitchen to wash the play kitchen equipment, cleaning plates, toasters and slices of pizza. By the time they were done, the plastic food was ready to be chewed on again by the children.

The final group was bigger. Maria and Chris, who made achieving his 💯th good deed look like child's play, were preparing play bags to give out during church services. They were filled with fun toys that were also quiet toys, which would keep children entertained while the adults were busy. Each bag contained a toy, a puzzle, a book and a jigsaw. Next to them, Kash and Sevan were sorting through a jumble of toys that had already been played with, getting them ready for Maria and Chris to pack, ready for another child to enjoy.

The team blitzed through all of the tasks, having a lot of fun along the way. They left Wei Hei very grateful for what they'd achieved.

"You've done more that I could have imagined."
"Thank you!" - Wei Hei

As they did such a great job, a return visit may be on the cards when the plastic pizza slices feel a bit sticky again. 🍕

Goodgym Ealing : we know what you did last April in Hanwell!!Yes and we were up to it again at the Hanwell stables. Conor, Sevan and Steph Ducat ran in the streets of sunny Ealing to Hanwell to meet Breda, Harvey and Maria who were waiting outside the stables. Andrea was here to open the stables so that we could do what we did last year - this is not a horror film but the scene would be perfect as poor lighting inside, loads of cobwebs and spiders, loads of branches lying around, abandoned sofas, chairs etc...creepy but we were safe.

Task was to move all sofas and chairs outside and give them a wipe, but also for Andrea to assess which ones would be used at the Hanwell Hootie this year. At one stage we had a human chain getting the green chairs from under the stairs. Maria helped Andrea upstairs for a while to tidy some items ...we think they went for a small nap.

We had the vintage leather chairs, the down to earth sofa(no legs), the psychologist(speak to me Harvey), the 3 legged sofa, the comfy sofa(Steph sofa surfing), the nature sofa(green leather sofa), the spring chair(iron springs), the matching cushion chair and some others with legs going haywire.

Once all cleaned we played Sofa Tetris as needed to put them back in the middle section of the stables ready for the festival next month. Sofa La Vista, Baby and we will be back!!