Ms F settled into her new routine of cheese souffles and new, exciting types of cheese. This time, the substitute for much missed Cornish Yarg was Wensleydale with cranberries. Ms F's shopping list also continued to feature the posh strawberries for four pounds. In the absence of her favourite Buxton still water, I had to resort to purchasing a six-pack of Volvic. Although the weight must have been the same as Buxton's the water felt much lighter. I didn't break a sweat while walking with the six-pack and the rest of the groceries to the fifth floor - but I certainly did later, on the Piccadilly line to West London!

This week we headed back to the beautiful grounds of Chiswick House, where we visit regularly to keep this historic green space looking its best. It helps keep the gardens and grounds free for everyone to enjoy, and it is always rewarding to know that an hour or so of work has a lasting impact on a community space.

A special welcome to Emma, who joined us for her very first GoodGym Hounslow session! Great to have you join us.

After a warm up and a quick run, we met up with the rest of the group, grabbed our tools and got straight to work on two important conservation tasks.

Our first job was tackling epicormic growth—the shoots that sprout from the trunks and lower branches of trees. While these shoots are a natural response to stress, they divert energy away from the healthy canopy and can affect the tree's long-term health. Removing them helps put energy where it's needed most.

Our second task was trimming back the browse line—the lower branches that create a neat line beneath the tree canopy. The name comes from the height at which deer naturally browse leaves in woodland. Maintaining this browse line improves visibility and allows more light to reach the ground, supporting a greater variety of plants and wildlife.

As always, there was plenty of conversation while we worked. Topics ranged from upcoming races and ambitious cycling adventures to remarkable hospital coincidences and plenty of plans for future events. Time flies when you're catching up with good company!

With an impressive number of trees tended to, we headed over to the estate yard for fitness. Tonight it was Tabata - a high-intensity interval workout consisting of short bursts of hard work followed by brief recovery periods. It's fast, energetic and efficient. There were plenty of laughs, lots of determination, and some truly impressive squats on display!

Next week we're off to help at a local school. Hope to see lots of you there! Sign up here for all the details

Since last year's cutback session at Hobbayne's Half Acre Woodland, the GoodGymers doubled in numbers, while the brambles, nettles, hawthorn and other nasties encroaching the public paths seemed to weaken. Our task owner, Dee, believed the drought was the reason and that a bit of rain would make the overgrowth explode as it had in the previous years.

Six GoodGym runners met in front of Ealing Broadway station for a 3.5km run to Hanwell and the same distance back. Among them was a new joiner, Kristian, who had thought the 7km would be a good challenge for him. While running in a group with Steph Ducat, Conor, Sevan, Chris and Kash, the distance turned out not to be such a challenge after all - Kristian kept a good, consistent pace all the way. Welcome, Kristian, and congratulations on your first GoodGym run!

Maria, Scott and Amy cycled, and Harvey walked to meet Dee and the runners under the Wharncliffe Viaduct near the Hanwell station. You may not know that the viaduct is quite a big thing in British industrial history - constructed in 1837, it was the first major design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the engineer responsible for the rest of the Great Western Railway and the iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol.

I couldn't resist that bridge tangent. Let's get back to Hanwell.

After a short ice-cream themed icebreaker, Dee handed the GoodGymers shears and suggested the best section of the path to tackle would be the tarmac way closest to Station Road. Doomed were all the brambles, nettles, hawthorns, ivy, and, surprisingly, bamboo plants that dared to grow through or over the fence. The most ambitious GoodGymers even cut tree branches with shears (and some solid willpower) alone! A sackful of rubbish was uncovered while cutting back the unruly plants, bagged, and diligently binned before the end of the session.

Shortly after 8pm, most of the team disbanded to make their way home. Conor, Kristian, Sevan and Kash decided to run back to Ealing Broadway. Little did they know, they were racing the Elizabeth line, which Chris decided to take. And they won! Was it a testament to GoodGymers' prowess, Hanwell station being underserved, or Lizzy's unreliability? I'll let you decide.

Next week, we are off for a similar route to reach the Stables in Brent Lodge Park and help sort the festival equipment after the Hanwell Hootie fever finally settled down. Sign up now to join us!

The Sunday mid-July session for Care4Calais brought together regulars Sevan and Kash, plus two new faces: Iram, who has already established herself as part of the GoodGym Ealing TaskForce but hadn't tried the Care4Calais sessions yet, and Emma, new to both GoodGym and West London. Welcome both!

At today's session, task owner Tamzin took all four GoodGymers from her secret HQ to an equally secret storage location near Ealing Broadway. Thoughtfully, Tamzin offered everyone sunscreen, as the usual easy-going indoor session had been turned into an easygoing outdoor session. With the recent heatwaves, she was worried about people working in the full sun.

As it turned out, the space in front of the storage unit had its own special microclimate. Between the shade from the trees and a cool breeze, Iram and Kash even got goosebumps! Emma had cleverly brought a second layer with her.

Our task was to carry out quality checks and sort donated shoes, from size 5 to 12 and beyond, or, for those who prefer European sizing, from 38 to 44 and beyond.

There was quite a variety of footwear, from fashionable trainers with tall, airy soles to branded Hello Kitty shoes. Luckily, the latter were mostly in smaller sizes, so unlikely to be offered to the male asylum seekers, who don't always appreciate that particular style. We also found a pair of bright red Haribo-branded shoes in size 44 and hoped there might still be a niche for those.

While sorting, we also tried to come up with a portmanteau for something between sandals and trainers, but didn't come up with anything spectacular. Any ideas?

As well as sorting the shoes into boxes, we built up a pile of questionable pairs: some in mismatched sizes, others slightly discoloured or a bit worn. Tamzin is going to go through them later to see whether anything can be salvaged or offered to asylum seekers as a second pair.

The two hours flew by. Some volunteers headed off to the next thing in their day, while others stayed for a lovely barbecue hosted by Tamzin. She had invited volunteers from across Care4Calais: people sorting donations like us, drivers, volunteers supporting refugees directly in the hotels, and even asylum seekers turned Care4Calais volunteers. It was a wonderful gesture and very much appreciated.

Our latest visit to Acton Junior parkrun aligned with the start of the school holidays. There was lots of chat between the parents and also the volunteers about their summer plans and again, fewer children than normal.

The roster was surprisingly full, until a space opened up as a warm up leader. The Run Director was advised how to handle this by other volunteers:

"I need someone to lead the warm up."
"I've been told that the GoodGym woman is very good." - Run Director
"That GoodGym woman is not here" - Kash

Neither Kash not Sevan were keen to stand in for Maria or Kat, recent GoodGym warm up leaders, in front of the children and run through the routine. Instead they stuck to their more familar and comfortable roles as tailwalker for Kash and barcode scanner for Sevan.

All of today's runners completed the course quickly. Even at the tail, so everything was packed up in record time.

On a sunny late afternoon, our GoodGym crew came along to support Collective Light, a pop-up community event built around an interactive glowing park furniture - powered by touch and movement. As people gather, connect and play, the space comes alive with light, turning everyday moments into something magical and helping to create a park that feels safer and more welcoming. A busy park is a safe park.

At today's festival, there was art, storytelling, yoga, nature workshops and community conversations. GoodGym gathered together a small group of willing festival goers to play our part in keeping the space litter free ahead of a tea party, chatting all the way! We split into small teams - two teams finding one sock each. Sadly they didn't form a pair. But that's okay, they still went in the bin bags!