We were back to one of our regular haunts, Cecil Sharp House, on Wednesday. While their regular gardener is away on a well deserved break, we stepped in to keep everything tidy and well watered for the week.

We split into two groups; Team Watering Can very quickly got stuck in giving the thirsty plants a good drink after so many weeks without rain. This included the greenhouse, and many big planters with new plants around the entrance.

Team Broom were on duty to clear the paths, beds, and lawns of dry leaves. The many weeks of heatwave has bought on an early Autumn for the trees in the garden, which have already started dropping their leaves. While it may not have looked too bad at the start, we quickly gathered about ten very full bags and left the gardens looking a lot neater!

A huge welcome to Maya who joined us for her first GG session - it was wonderful to have you with us :)

Good luck to everyone taking part in the Big Half next weekend - you'll smash it!

A welcome return to see Ms V, and this time to help her take a new microwave out of its packaging and put it onto the shelf in her kitchen. After clearing space to allow the box to be opened, whereupon we discovered there was a further box inside the box that contained the oven, it was a case of lifting the thankfully not so heavy new unit out and putting it onto the recently vacated shelf ready for use.

I removed the packing tape, and showed Ms V how the grill tray fitted into the oven, and then perched the old microwave onto the empty box in her living room, and cleared a way back down her hallway. As always, Ms V was very grateful for today's assistance!

Mr C of Camden had a small garden at the back of his ground-floor flat, but was no longer able to maintain it after losing mobility in his left arm. The garden slowly became what seasoned GoodGymers would call a jungle. It was abundant in brambles, ivy, bushes and lost footballs, but lacked sunlight and room to move.

The space was dominated by an overgrown buddleia surrounded by walls of ivy. Clusters of thick brambles filled the gaps between the branches. On the left-hand wall grew something that could have been a sort of vine - Dutchman's pipe, perhaps? It had thin, dark stems and long, flexible branches capable of climbing walls and other plants. When Kash attempted to pull it, several metres of vine fell from the sky, while another few metres still clung to the ivy growing over the wall, giving the impression of the beanstalk from Jack and the Beanstalk.

Sevan collected most of the footballs in a single place, wondering why no children had knocked on Mr C's door, saying:

"Please, Sir, can I have my ball back?"

In 90 minutes, a remarkable transformation took place. The buddleia shrunk, the brambles disappeared, and sunshine finally shone into the garden. The GoodGymers didn't know what would happen to the footballs, but Mr C certainly had at least some of his garden back.

Today I worked alongside Ms D to unpack and organise some boxes. As we went through the items, some brought back fond memories for her of the good old days, which gave us a lovely opportunity to chat and reminisce together.

We also sorted through some pharmacy products and safely identified those that had expired. It was a productive session, and we enjoyed a good conversation while getting the work done.

On my last visit, Mr T had greeted me at the entrance to the building as the main door wasn't working, so he wanted to be sure I could get in. In the intervening period the door has been fixed, but Mr T's telling of the story behind the repair would've filled three episodes of a tv drama - suffice to say the council workmen, when they finally did arrive, knew they had to do a good job...

Again, and fortunately, the visit to the various shops along Tottenham Court Road to pick up his supplies was a little less stressful, and perhaps a bit quicker too than the door repair, which of course gave us more time to pick apart the stories of the week (and more) once I'd returned with everything he'd requested.

As I was working not far from Ms F flat, I signed up for her weekly shopping. After work, walked to her flat and Ms F was happy to see Goodgym as last week she did not have anyone so her stock of bottled water was low, very low - zero!!The list was double page today, and I was reminded not to forget to scan her loyalty card as had Vouchers and some free smooth peanut butter!!Wowcher!! Got all her items after figuring out where they have been moved as the store re opened recently after a refurbishment, which meant things moved around. When at the till, I realised that one items was supposed to have a £1.50 voucher, but after investigation with Ms F, she forgot to select/validate it : she can still use it next week hopefully. She did bag nearly £8 in vouchers - shopping was roughly £8 cheaper today.