Miriam was assigned the ladies' section when I entered the Monday evening soup kitchen. The clothes have been already laid out for display.

Emma assigned me to the kitchen, where Clair was in charge of cooking today. There was a young kid who was already doing a great job being the kitchen assistant. We formed a line and started packing the tuna pasta and veggie pasta and delivering them to the front.

The tuna pasta was going out at a faster pace and we couldn't keep up with the packing.

After the rush hour, things settled down and we packed, cleaned, and finished all by 7:45 pm.

Walpole Park on Tuesday nights can get surprisingly busy. Tonight, the enthusiasts of a stroll in the park after dark were startled by the sight of bikes approaching them - only to find out that the cyclists were actually runners with powerful head torches!

One group of GoodGymers ran two loops around the park while the second, smaller one, decided on a slower, single round. Everyone eventually met near the Rickyard, where Ranger Jon had left a few shovels for the volunteers. He also gave them a task in the walled garden.

The walled garden was originally an ornamental kitchen garden to the 18th century Pitzhanger Manor House, the home of architect Sir John Soane. The practice of growing food and flowers in that part of Walpole Park continues today, and the GoodGymers were about to become a part of that tradition.

A newly built raised bed was waiting to be filled with compost delivered last week in four massive bags spread around the bed. Jon carefully positioned the bags for GoodGymers to make their work the most efficient. Did they stand up to the task?

The team picked up a range of tools they thought were worth trying in a small space they had. Annabel, who just came back to running and GoodGymming, following a recovery, picked up a good, old shovel. So did Miriam and Steph. Sevan opted for the fourth, last shovel. His movements had far more impetus, so he practically had a bag for himself as no one would dare come closer to his deadly, sweeping shovel. Helene was left with a spade which she used to fill a big bucket. Chris and Kash found using smaller buckets the most effective for their bag which was further down from the bed. When the two compost bags which were closest to the bed were empty, the third bag was moved nearer to the destination. Steph and Kash attacked the furthest source of compost with shovels and a wheelbarrow.

The GoodGymers had so much fun that they were surprised to see how quickly they filled the raised bed to the required level. They packed up the three now empty bags and tools to return them to the storage at the Rickyard. Hopefully, Ranger Jon will be happy to see the compost getting comfy in its new bed tomorrow!

Our next task for Ealing Parks is next week - at Elthorne Park. Sign up now!

Today Miriam officially became a mission runner, completing her mission number one, while Kash evolved into a mission beast, reaching a good deeds count of 666.

Kash remembered Mr A's and his wife's house, where she did grocery missions for the elderly couple, and later came with Sevan to relocate a bed to make space for Mr A's new hospital bed. Today, Kash returned with Miriam to complete the most challenging task for Mr A: swapping said hospital bed upstairs with the older gentleman's bed downstairs.

The good news was that Mr A's son, Dr S, was at his parents' house to orchestrate the operation and help move his dad onto the hospital bed. The bad news was that both beds to be swapped were occupied!

I don't think we can do the move today, said Dr S, coming to the living room on the ground floor from the bedroom upstairs. The tenant is sleeping.

Do you mean we will be too noisy? He is not sleeping in THE bed, right?

He is.

After that announcement, Mr A and his wife had an animated discussion with their son. Miriam and Kash didn't understand a thing from what was said, but they understood well what was going to happen next. Dr S went upstairs to negotiate with the tenant. He was successful.

Miriam and Kash apologised to the tenant for the disruption. He seemed reconciled with the situation and helped them move the mattress. That was the easy part. Miriam started taking off the headboard, and Kash started to think about the steps they needed to do to complete the task and whether there were any blockers. One blocker was a broken stair lift, stuck permanently at the top of the stairs. There was hardly any way around it. Dr S proved he was not only the brain but also the muscle. He helped the GoodGymers lift the bed above the stair lift and take it downstairs. To be frank, it was not a real hospital bed but it had features like a reclining mechanism, which made the bed extra heavy.

Another hoop was the mystery of how to fit the bed through the door to the living room. Mr A was getting anxious and even felt like cancelling the task at some point. Dr S convinced him that he and the GoodGymers knew what they were doing. After moving a few pictures and a heavy cabinet, it became possible to get the bed into the living room.

There was one more tricky thing to do: move Mr A from one bed to another. Kash noticed Mr A changed a lot since her previous visits. After coming back from the hospital, he seemed much smaller and frail. The team needed a way to move him gently from one bed to another without a hoist and avoid putting him into a wheelchair. Dr S decided to slide him, together with his current bedsheet, onto the new bed. It was very smooth and Mr A did not suffer discomfort.

After dealing with the heavy hospital bed, moving Mr A's old bed upstairs felt like a breeze - it was super light! The GoodGymers slid the new bed with Mr A towards the wall and the seemingly difficult task was completed in less than an hour!

The grateful family offered the GoodGymers soft drinks and introduced them to Dr S's eight-year-old son, who was in the house and wanted to know the names of the nice volunteers he saw in action.

Miriam did amazingly on her first mission, showing a positive attitude, strength, determination, and kindness in everything she did. For Kash, it was a pleasure to do a mission with Miriam. Hopefully, they will team up very soon again to do more good!