3 goodgymers made their way to the church to find customers outside more or less arguing who was 1st in the line. We did try to calm them down and we did say that the Foodbank was no yet open as too early. They all went back in line. First goodgym session for Serene found Goodgym when looking for local community missions. Welcome to Goodgym. Task was the usual of putting out the large tables, smaller ones with chairs and taking out the boxes from the storage room until the van arrived. Once the van arrived both Jonathan and Steph Ducattrollied the crates from the van into the church. We were not trollied 🤣. Serene was in the meantime helping out with sorting some of the pastries into smaller bags.

On our penultimate group run of the year we were back for our second visit to Green Dragon school to work on their new garden, visit the foxes and tackle more than a few brambles and rocks.

Well done to Michelle ad Jon for racing at the weekend in tough conditions. Great running!

We met for a run down to the school, beautifully lit by all the festive lights along the route. By the time we arrived, Una, who manages the garden, was ready with spades, forks and instructions on our job for the evening.

It maybe have been one of the last group sessions, but there was certainly no slacking. We had some very gnarly established bramble roots to dispatch, huge rocks to remove and a flat planting area to create.

We soon got to work, the evening filled with the festive sound of tuneful GoodGym voices echoing gently over the peaceful playground and the neighbourhood beyond....

After a good stint the area was looking much clearer, with Una remarking that 'you did more in one night that we could have in a month' - praise indeed! Well done team.

If that wasn't hard enough, we did an intense arm work out that worked our traps, biceps and shoulders. We even got a bit of encouragement from the kids on bikes that passed by!

Next week is our final group run of the year, but don't worry, it's going to be a goodie. In what has become an end of year tradition for us, we are going to be spreading the word about the amazing It's a Wrap project, hopefully getting a pressie into the hands of every underprivileged child in the borough. We'll then be celebrating with a social at the pub. Don't miss it!

If the numbers of bulbs we have planted over the past few weeks is anything to go by, the borough of Hounslow is going to be soon bursting at the seams with spring flowers! It's great to think, as we run round Gunnersbury, Chiswick and beyond next year, that GoodGym helped fill the borough with tulips, daffs, narcissus and more.

Last night we were working outside Gunnersbury tube helping Abundance clear the raised beds of old grasses and lavender, and replant them with bulbs in fresh compost.

We started off with a short run down to the task, where we found that there was a vast difference in tolerance to the cold, wet conditions. While some of us sported several layers, from hat to Christmas socks, others took a more tropical approach in tshirt and shorts! Whatever our choice of December outfit, we all got stuck in to the job.

The air was soon filled with the scent of lavender as we carefully preserved the grasses and dug in new bulbs. First person to spot the first bulb up next year wins a prize!

Before long the raised beds were filled with the promise of spring flowers, so we ran off to our next spot for some balance and cardio based fitness. We started off with the one legged closed eyes squat test before moving on to a round of circuits, and finishing with a minute squat challenge. That soon warmed us up!

This weekend we have a mission on Chiswick eyot and next week we're going to be sowing cowslips at Turnham Green. Good luck to Pippa, Michelle, Jon and Will this weekend, racing everything from 5miles up to marathon - have a great one!

At GoodGym Hounslow we're practically experts at planting bulbs now! The team kicked off the season by putting in daffs at Chiswick House, last week we were brightening up the High Rd with tulips and last night we were back at Harvard Hill to plant 300 narcissus bulbs. By next week, when we go to Gunnersbury tube to help Abundance get yet more bulbs in the ground we'll be a finely tuned planting machine!

We met with one of the lead volunteers of Friends of Harvard Hill, who handed over the tools and bulbs and gave us instructions about where they all needed to go. Luckily the ground wasn't totally frozen, although it was certainly nippy conditions last night! It was great to meet our favourite project manager, Sybil the Cat, at the task. She kindly oversaw our work making sure our planting was paw purrfection.

After 40 minutes of hard graft, we had got to the bottom of the sack. There was just one more thing to do to ensure we didn't get too chilly - a lower body blast. We kicked off with pogos, moving on to curtesy lunges, jack lunges and squats before calling it a night. Job well done!

This Saturday we have a mission with Trees for Cities - you can find all the details and sign up here

Finally, a huge congratulations to Maxime who, last weekend made it to that magic milestone - 50 good deeds! What an achievement - great to see you in your black tshirt Maxime!