Mrs E's first encounter with GoodGym came with a few unexpected twists. First of all, I wasn't a professional gardener who had come for a scheduled consultation. Secondly, I had come to work in the garden without bringing any tools or a van to take away the garden waste. And thirdly, I didn't want any money for my time. At that point, Mrs E didn't yet realise I had run 6km up the hill to meet her, but I thought that revelation might have been one surprise too many, so I've kept that secret for later.

Mrs E said she was genuinely touched that someone would give up their time to help her and her husband without expecting anything in return. At the same time, she doubted I would be able to make any difference in a garden that had become inaccessible to the elderly couple, who no longer even knew where their tools were.

I didn't want to be too persistent if this wasn't the kind of help they had been expecting. However, sensing Mrs E's distress about the state of the garden she had loved and cared for over so many years, I decided to make use of one of my lesser-known skills: persuasion. First, I asked if I could simply have a look around the garden and see what might be achievable in a short time without any tools. I also asked what made her think I wouldn't be able to improve it. Then I showed her a snapshot of my before-and-after photos from my GoodGym missions portfolio. That did the trick.

Although I was tempted to search the plastic toolbox in the garden for something to trim the overgrown plants, I decided instead to pull weeds from the patio, which required no tools at all.

As I worked, Mrs E asked where I was from and was delighted to tell me that part of her own family roots lay in the same country. She told me about her childhood in continental Europe, how she came to the UK, and how she fell in love both with the country and with her husband, Mr R. We chatted about all sorts of things, and she shared some of her secrets to looking and feeling good at the age of 90: a sensible low-dairy diet, lots of smiling, and simply being happy. Looking at her, I would have guessed she was in her early seventies, so I felt the advice came from a true expert.

Our conversation was suddenly interrupted by a cat jumping into the garden and loudly announcing its arrival with a series of long, insistent meows, clearly unimpressed by my presence in its territory. That unexpected visitor completely broke the rhythm of our chat, and Mrs E decided to head back inside for a well-earned rest.

In the meantime, I weeded the section of patio nearest the garden entrance, removing patches of grass and bindweed, then swept away grass and leaves. The garden was large, long and quite overgrown, but I was pleased with what I had managed to achieve in a relatively short time.

Mrs E was grateful for the help and pleasantly surprised by what a GoodGymer could accomplish in less than 90 minutes. She topped up my water bottle and invited me to sit with her on the sofa while we looked through a thick stack of printed photographs showing her garden over the years. The transformation was remarkable. The photos captured the garden's evolution from a grassy space to a beautifully paved garden, or from a lush tropical paradise to a space overflowing with flowers. Mrs E spoke proudly of the gardener who had designed and created it, recalling with a smile how he had cheekily photographed his work afterwards to show future clients. I couldn't help but laugh to myself - that was exactly how I had earned Mrs E's trust in the first place.

For my last solo mission this Sunday, I chose to help our old acquaintance, Mr R. I've visited him and worked in his vast front garden more than once, and I can tell you that if there is anything in the world more stubborn than the weeds there, it's me.

I arrived a little later than planned, following a 5 km run from my previous task in North Greenford. Mr R was already waiting for me at the front door. And yes, I was right: today's task was once again weeding the front garden! Mr R had quite a collection of tools, from a hand trowel and a bent spade to a mighty mattock and an equally useful rake. I ended up using every single one of them.

Before I got started, Mr R offered me a couple of cold soft drinks. I gladly accepted, as I was extremely thirsty. It seemed as though those two bottles of green juice gave me some extra power, amplified by the shade and a pleasant breeze. After a whole weekend of hot, sweaty tasks, those conditions made a huge difference.

I started with the hand trowel but quickly realised that, as expected, the soil was rock hard. I wasn't going to get very far tackling the weeds one by one with such a small tool. Next came the spade, and I stuck with it for quite a while, snapping and chopping the weed stems just above the ground. It proved quite effective, although it took plenty of effort. I knew the most effective tool would be the mattock - and it's one of my favourites to use. To save my energy, I left it until later for the thickest clusters of weeds. Once I finally got my hands on the mattock, though, I couldn't stop using it. It powered through more than half of the remaining area.

To keep myself motivated and see the progress more clearly, I raked about two-thirds of the cleared area before finishing the rest with the spade. I was pleased to discover I still had plenty of energy left for my final task of the weekend. After two hours of digging, chopping and raking, I eventually cleared all the weeds from Mr R's front garden. As I was scooping the last of the green waste into the green bin, Mr R came to the door looking genuinely shocked.

"What a job! What a job! You stayed longer than you should," he said.

He couldn't express his gratitude enough.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much," he kept repeating.

When I asked if I could take an "after" photo of the garden, he smiled and said:

"Of course. Otherwise, no one will believe what you've done here."
"I don't believe it myself, actually," I replied.

The work was done, and Mr R's garden looked neat once again. Mr R told me he was looking for a long-term solution to those stubborn weeds and planned to apply weed killer over the next few days while the weather stayed hot and dry. I wished him luck in the ongoing battle, although I certainly wouldn't mind coming back for another round against the weeds again.

"See you soon," said Mr R as I was leaving - followed by at least five more thank-yous.

Back at Mrs A to start on the back garden - very big garden invaded by brambles, weeds and bine weeds. Started near the back door to clear the space and make it more comfortable for her and her son. I already filled 2 green wheelie bins and a council green bag, but they havent been collected. Luckily they had a 3rd green wheelie bin at the far end of the garden. Untangled the bin and started by bramble mission. Discovered loads of hidden items : wooden planks, flower pots, animal sculptures, golf balls, golf caddie and a battery for it, fridge drawer and some rubbish bags. Mrs A son was outside and did sorting out of the items i found...we put alot in the rubbish!!. I found a lovely rabbit sculpture that was hidden - now we can enjoy the view of the rabbit. Mrs A son said that his dad used to play golf and practiced in the back garden as it is very long and no one facing that side. At the end of the session, her son could not believe the space and was already thinking of putting 2 chairs and a small table under the tree to enjoy the weather especially that the area at the back door was clear. Mission over but will be back to carry on the battle with the brambles.

On a blissfully cooler day after the recent heatwave, the number of children at Acton Juniors was down on the usual, with 53 finishers. The organisers were talking about the return of a local school next week, which as we saw last time, brought a huge influx of runners and the need for extra volunteers, so if you can help, please sign up directly with Acton Juniors on the 5th of July.

While the number of runners was down, there was a strong showing of 6 GoodGymers. Maria led by running the warm up, Kash was mopping up those at the back as the tail walker and in between, Alan and Steph were marshalling, Sevan timekeeping and Divy scanned the finishers' barcodes.

Steph had a fun time dealing with sausage dogs that were off their leash. At one point he had to funnel the runners past one dog that was blocking their path to make sure that all people and dogs safely enjoyed the park this morning and no sausage dogs were made to roll.

We have 2 sessions listed with Acton Juniors in July. If you're free on either the 12th or the 19th, please join us to help this family event run safely and to make it a fun morning for all of the children taking part.

4 Goodgymers met at Ealing Broadway Station to run and chat towards Acton park as volunteering at Acton Junior Parkrun. Slightly cooler than previous days but still hot 🔥

The last two sessions in the Grove Farm woodlands have, rather oddly, coincided with the May and June heatwaves at the end of each month. This latest conservation day seemed even hotter than the one over the May bank holiday weekend. On the positive note, the temperature had dropped to "only" around 32°C, a welcome improvement after a truly scorching midweek!

Maybe the heat was the reason behind the lower-than-usual turnout? Sevan, Steph Ducat and Kash still showed up after quite demanding morning runs and, together with Mike, sought to cool down in the depths of the woods. There, upstream of the dried-up Costons Brook, the task awaited. Picking up from last month's unfinished objective, the team continued their journey into the wild green yonder, hacking through brambles, ivy and nettles, and removing fallen logs blocking the way - all while keeping a careful eye on dangerously leaning, half-rotten trees towering overhead.

Mike was hoping to get closer to the lair of Japanese knotweed, which was due to be treated by the rangers (given access to the site was provided) as a highly invasive non-native species threatening Grove Farm's ecosystem. Although the team wasn't expecting to uncover the knotweed by the end of the day's expedition, the adventurers made a few eclectic discoveries along the way. Their collection of woodland litter ranged from a shopping basket and a running shoe to a hi-fi stack system and even a wasp nest. One of the wasps took a particular dislike to Kash and made its feelings known with a sting, leaving her with a painful ankle that hindered both her walking and running for the rest of the day.

At the end of the corridor they had cut through the undergrowth, awaited "a house" - a wild camping site complete with a carpet, a table and seating. In the middle of that house, Sevan discovered another "house", and a rather bizarre one: a bird cage, which was an unusual sight in the middle of the woods, where one might expect freedom rather than confinement.

After reaching the "house", Mike suggested cutting an alternative route back, making sure both banks of Costons Brook were cleared in case the stream started flowing again with the arrival of autumn. The fallen logs and trees along the return route had to be carefully removed, one by one, until the team reached the main cleared path again.

"Grove Farm doesn't want to let you leave." - Mike.

Eventually, the nature reserve released the GoodGymers to do good elsewhere. But they promised to return in July to continue their mission, hopefully without any more heatwaves!