After a successful Ealing Half Marathon earlier in the day, six of of our crew came back to the route to take down warning signs, mile markers and directions.

Two of our number had taken part in the race - Steph Ducat and Harvey, amazing that they still had the legs to get round again! Other had stood cheering runners on - Ealing Half really is a community event and so well supported.

We have become experts in snipping plastic ties, a life skills that could come in handy if ever stranded on a desert island! There was a bit of confusion early on as we went round of our section of the route in reverse, but it was dark and taking the long way round isn't so terrible, is it?!

Signs under our arms, we headed to drop them off at Lisa's house - the well known coordination point (Lisa also has a camper van and delivers the signs to their year round storage, a handy person to know).

At the end of a satisfying day, our team headed off into the night to for r and r (not rock n roll; rest and recuperation!).

Kash and Gus were tasked with moving one hospital bed from one room to another.

Unfortunately even after trying at different angles and the bed lowered to its most compact form, the bed was too big to fit through the door. After thorough investigation of the frame, trying a disassembly (not finding an instruction manual on the internet) the best they can (without any tools at their disposition), Kash and Gus decided it was better to put it all back together and where it was.

Perhaps next time with tools!

David arrived at Ms B’s house ahead of time, where he met Ms B, the beneficiary, her dog Rosie, and GoodGymer Kash - all three of whom had already been involved in furniture assembly an hour earlier.

Once Ms B and Rosie had gone downstairs, David and Kash swapped a sofa with a divan bed between two bedrooms, then used the remaining time to build a bedside table to complement the drawer unit Kash had finished during the previous task.

By furnishing the new bedroom, the GoodGymers helped Ms B create a sleeping space in a warmer part of the house and, hopefully, avoid feeling uncomfortably cold during the winter nights.

On Saturday afternoon, after spending the morning at a conservation day at Grove Farm, I had a double Acton act booked with Ms B: first gardening and, later, a furniture-moving mission.

When I explained why I had come alone (my second task was the only one confirmed as a two-person mission), Ms B asked me about assembling the furniture. Since I had been expecting to start with the gardening, I probed her about it.

“The garden is a challenge,” Ms B stated.

I love a good challenge, but this one was of a different kind from the usual. The culprit was a large fig tree that, in late September, had no intention of dropping its leaves. With no leaves on the ground to sweep, Ms B decided that the garden was neither a priority nor worth tidying up yet. She apologised for the misunderstanding, as the task had probably been requested and confirmed too soon, but she had an equally exciting alternative for me.

We moved a few items out of Ms B’s new bedroom ahead of the second mission to make space for the new furniture, and carried an old mattress downstairs. Then I built three drawers to complete the partially assembled drawer unit, while the lovely Rosie, Ms B’s dog, sniffed my Grove Farm-scented legs and vigorously licked my bramble scratches. All that adorable tickling made me slow down as I put the screws into the drawers, pausing to stroke Rosie until she fell asleep and I could complete the build uninterrupted.

Even with the pooch intervention, I still had plenty of time before my second mission for Ms B, this time with GoodGymer David. So I unpacked another piece of furniture and checked that none of the parts was missing.

It wasn’t.