A sniper/spotter team is a force multiplier - a small team that, through use of special tactics, can do the damage of a much larger force. A sniper's primary role is reconnaissance. The spotter's primary role is protecting the sniper. The relationship between a sniper and their spotter is very important. First and foremost, the two depend on each other for survival.
- Sniper and Spotter Operational Guide

Mr C had suffered a stroke a year and a half ago, and has been bedbound since then. He used to help his wife Mrs J tend to their garden in Isleworth, which she had designed and kept in shape for 35 years. After Mr C's stroke, the couple's life was never the same. Neither was the garden. It became overgrown and hard to maintain. The tools started to feel heavier, the plants felt outright hostile. When Mrs J recently tried to cut back a thorny wild plum tree on her own, a branch with a large spike had fallen on her arm, piercing a blood vessel in a horrific display. The lady didn't want to give up, but felt overwhelmed.

"It is a jungle." - Mrs J.

Kash wouldn't agree with that. She had seen worse. Like a wall of brambles, for example. Or a field of bindweed. Mr C's and Mrs J's garden was nothing like that. But the trees grew high up, and Kash wasn't sure yet how to attack them.

"Do you have a ladder?" - Kash.

The ladder Mrs J produced wasn't sturdy at all, and Kash didn't have a spotter to remediate that. Kash hadn't been a lone wolf her entire life, but was on this Friday morning. Mrs J had a solution to that: a long-reach pruner. Kash asked for a quick overview of the tool, as she had used a similar one only twice before. She quickly recalled how to wield it and felt like a sniper targeting branches high in the sky. But she could still use a spotter.

The pruner's mechanism to lock the pole at a desired position didn't work, so Mrs J found a screw to block it, but it fell out after two cuts. Kash couldn't find it, perhaps due to her imperfect eyesight, and concluded a good spotter would certainly locate the screw. Instead, she found a hook which blocked the mechanism quite reliably.

"Did you see a cat here? " - Mrs J.
"Yes, it went that way. Is it your cat?" - Kash

Mrs J told Kash about the two cats she had adopted from Greece, and Kash in return shared that she used to have a Cypriot cat. While Kash cut and bagged the spiky branches falling from the sky, Mrs J told her about travels to wonderful islands full of ancient ruins. It's been a really good chat and time flew by.

Sniper's secondary role is High Value Targets or HVT. A spotter's secondary role is spotting.
- Sniper and Spotter Operational Guide

Kash has cut all the thinner branches she could reach with the pruner without stepping on the wobbly ladder. Then Mrs J spotted a thick branch that was a perfect candidate to take out. A real HVT.

"Do you have a saw?" - Kash.

Mrs J had two saws indeed, and Kash chose the longer one, which had never been used. But she needed to climb the ladder, and, more importantly, she needed a spotter. Mrs J offered to hold the ladder, and Kash took out the branch without falling. That was a huge win in the battle with the wild plum tree.

"That was a beast!" - Mrs J.

The sniper and spotter cut the beasty branches to pack away, then Kash pruned a few more thinner ones. The time was soon up, and Kash had to go. The victory over the thick branch gave Mrs J hope that the garden could be tamed with some help. Mr C was grateful for the help, even though he couldn't go and see the garden. Mrs J made a promise to herself that she'd take Mr C there at the nearest opportunity.

For GoodGym Ealing's third and last Birthday Run, to celebrate our 10 years of good deeds in the borough, the route passed organisations old and new that GGE has helped in central and South Ealing, plus Northfields. There were 6 stops on the way to talk about each organisation, its purpose and how GoodGym has helped them work towards their goals. The organisations on the route were:

Walpole Park where we've worked with the park ranger to maintain the park for many years. We've mulched trees, cut back brambles, helped give away a giant pile of compost to residents, planted a flower bed for the visit of The Antiques Roadshow and moved tons and tons of wood chip.

Ealing Transition and Lammas Orchard was next, which was started when 2 tennis courts were reclaimed to create a community orchard. Similar to Walpole Park, we carry out lots of conservation and maintenance tasks here, like wood chipping the paths, clearing weeds, looking after the new and old hedges in the area and topping up the tadpole pool with water. We have a group run coming up to help Ealing Transition on the 25th of August.

A short dash from Ealing Transition was St Mary's Church where GGE have had many tasks over the years with different organisations. Tidying the church and decorating their Xmas tree is our traditional pre-Xmas party task. We now also volunteer weekly at South Ealing Food Cupboard and maintain the churchyard when called on. Our next tasks at St Mary's will be stocking the Food Cupboard on Monday and gardening on Tuesday for our next group run.

A hop, skip and a jump away down an alley was Grange School. A more recent task location since 2025, they have plans on turning an unused area with a huge pit into a nature area with a pond. We've had 2 sessions with parents and children from the school to clean up the area and turn the pit into a smaller, safer pool of water.

Further south was South Ealing Cemetery where, since 2024, we've had various interesting sessions with Ealing Parks Foundation. Their aim is to make the cemetery a welcoming place for everyone to reduce anti-social behaviour and shady people hanging out there. We've wood chipped paths, learned what a stumpery is and prepared and planted in their flowerbeds as part of the bigger vision.

A slightly longer way later and now heading west, the group arrived at Blondin Park. With the Blondin Consortium we've prepared for building of the pavilion, set up the annual Brentford Festival, installed boot scrubbers and there are always the GoodGym favourites, mulching, planting and watering trees.

The last stop of the run was The Log Cabin. No longer a GoodGym task location, it's an organisation that aims to bring together children with and without special needs to play together. They have a large play area outside that we used to keep tidy and keep maintained. During Covid, we flyered the local area for them too to share free activities to keep children entertained. It was also briefly the Ealing location for All Aboard Club's giant train set, before it moved to Acton's London Transport Museum Depot.

That was GGE's run through history. Organisations past, present and hopefully future. Let's see who's new on the list in 10 years time 🗓️.