Was already in the area shopping for books so it was ideal to fit in Ms F. Showed her some photos from recent weeks of what I’ve been getting my up to. Her favourite wine was on a significant discount so picked up some of that. Forgot to take a picture on the task so here’s a random photo of a nearby street.

8 GoodGymers braved the full moon and fireworks to make a HUGE difference in Camden Town!

Our evening was a night for the senses — up above we were illuminated by the brightest and fullest moon ever seen over Camden — and everywhere we were surrounded by the bangs and pops of bonfire rockets!

Not that anything could dissuade this group from making a wonderful difference!

Jackie, John, Lydia, Sally (back to Camden again — it was great to see you!), Siobhan, Steve, and Victoria were quick to grab brooms and rakes and bags and gloves, and they got merrily (with much conversation in the air) to our task for the evening: ALL THE LEAVES.

In Cecil Sharp House's special garden there sits a magnificent tree. It is old and wise and probably has the best stories in town. But it does have one problem: ALL THE LEAVES.

And so this special group got to grips with this problem — THE ALL THE LEAVES PROBLEM — and we soon had ten then twenty then nearly thirty bags packed and ready for composting.

We'll be back in 3 weeks for our next run at the leaves!

Thank you, everyone!! It was great to see you!!

When Sevan and Kash signed up for a task described as tidying and sorting after a recent move for Ms D, they weren't quite sure what to expect.

Is it decluttering? - Kash wondered.
I think it will be unpacking - Sevan reckoned.

When they eventually entered Ms D's home and promptly took off their shoes, caked with mud after their previous ground levelling job, the lady, to their surprise, led them to the garden. Shoes back on then! The duo didn't anticipate another gardening task that day, but they've always been ready for any job and, luckily, had their gardening gloves with them.

The garden had a slightly whimsical feel to it, with dozens of water-filled pots and pans, broken crockery and fruit peel scattered around, and ridiculously steep stairs, unseen in continental Europe (at least according to Kash). Ms D asked the two GoodGymers to sweep the leaves and remove rubbish from the paved area. It was not always clear which pieces were classified as junk and which were worth keeping, so Sevan and Kash didn't enter full-throttle clearance mode and asked Ms D for advice when in doubt.

As the area to tidy up was small and the number of items Ms D was willing to part with scarce, a lightbulb moment struck and additional tasks ideas emerged: emptying the stale water from the plant pots and dishes, pruning a rose bush and removing ivy from the garden wall. It also turned out that Ms D heard about the latest bug hotel trends and asked the GoodGymers to move some old timber to decompose at the back of the garden for the benefit of beetles and pollinators.

Although Sevan and Kash felt they could have achieved much more in 90 minutes, Ms D thought she received exactly the help she needed and felt that she regained some control over her garden.

Late Sunday afternoon and two goodgymers wondered into Camden to meet at Ms N or at least tried to figure out where the entrance was as late 60's/70's flats with multiple entrances and weird numbering order. Figured it out and when going into the lift did not see the floor we had to go off, but luckily a resident was going up and explained how it worked. You go a level above the one you require, then walk a long the corridor and it will go to the level you need. Ms N welcomed us and in the flat just a landing with incorporated cupboards. We then went a floor down - you must love the constructions from 50 or 60 years ago. Mission today was to help Ms N to pack boxes as will be moving to another newly built flat. Where to start? As there were a massive cupboard in the lounge under the staircase, we decided to empty it and pack or bin depending on our findings. Ms N did say she has not opened it for a while as didn't know what to find apart from maybe Mickey Mouse as she had some of his friends getting through the holes of the old building. Steph Ducat put his head torch as no lights and started pulling items out to Alice. We had a lot of rubbish and some items that Ms N wanted us to box. Out of the items we found there was a trip back to the future or was it more back in time. Very old PC with loads of floppy disks and even an IT manual for Windows 95!!Found some Xmas decorations and tinsel from the 70's. Steph found a mouse who was wired : yes a computer mouse and not a real one! Coat hangers and ladies bags came in masses. Did you vote in 1992? Well we found an local election flyer from that year! One cupboard done - 3 more smaller ones in the corridor. Then this looked more like a DIY store with old tins of pain, dried wall fillers, old paint rollers etc. Found a very intriguing object for Alice : an indoor TV aerial from the 70's or 80's and we got sign NOT when tested. At the end we collected 6 bags of rubbish, 2 boxes filled with rubbish, newspapers. Also got rid of an old empty suitcase which was damaged by the dampness from an old leak in the small cupboard. Boxed items in 1 box for Ms N to move as left in one of the cupboards DIY that can be re used and others to be binned properly. We also set a side some personal paperwork and some Xmas cards that Ms N needs to go through. Once finished we went back to the future in Camden

Miss J moved back to her place at the beginning of the year, following a fire that had devastated the house two years ago. The tragic event that took Miss J's beloved cat and most of her belongings resulted in an unexpected number of furniture donations for her, which she wasn't able to fit inside the house. Miss J was also worried about the state of her garden, where the firemen apparently dropped the burning things from the house. The debris has been mostly removed by now, and there were good things that happened there this year: the pear and fig trees finally fruited after a couple of years!

My garden must have missed me! - Miss J.

Miss J had a big garden project in her mind: a 4x2.5m shed. The parts had already been delivered, but the ground where the shed would be constructed was uneven and full of roots. GoodGymers Sevan and Kash visited Miss J one Sunday afternoon to remediate that problem. Apparently, Mission Control had told the beneficiary that they were experienced in levelling ground (they weren't, really!), so the stakes were high.

First, Sevan and Kash squeezed through a narrow corridor to take bin sacks with the garden waste and debris out, then they pulled up fake grass in Miss J's back garden to uncover a kingdom of worms. The reclaimed 12 square metres of soil now needed to be levelled. With a new spade and fork that Miss J had purchased, and the incredibly soft soil (thanks to the overnight downpour), the GoodGymers easily dug out the roots and even a block of concrete. The debate between Sevan and Kash on whether to bury it back was settled by Miss J, who concluded she could use such a piece of concrete for something. The final polishing touches to the levelling job included a plank challenge (involving laying a piece of wood flat on the soil, not the exercise!) and flattening the ground with a rake Miss J had borrowed from her neighbour.

When it was nearly time to go, the grateful Miss J appeared with a tray with Spanish coffee in a cafetiere and Italian panettone. What a treat! And not only that. The lady also offered the GoodGymers as many fruits from her fig tree as they could pick - the fresh figs were delicious! Fingers crossed that next summer the Miss J will see plenty of fruit again - and, of course, her shed will be built! Mag-fig-icent job!

No need for a visit to M&S today as Mr T still had plentiful supplies from last week's shop, and so it proved a straightforward visit to his local Tesco and all too familiar Lidl to fill his shopping trolley this week. This of course gave us more time to catch up on the comings and goings of the past few days, another history lesson, a lesson on tax evasion(!), and for him to test me on his cross-word of the week, for which he gave me the answer but then challenged me on it's meaning..."Hominid". (I'd swear my brain has got bigger as a result of shopping regularly for Mr T).