Friday Hub and a wet day!!When I Steph Ducat arrived, James was already at the church to help - We are early birds. Then Chandrima turned up all the way from Tower Hamlets. Then Chandrima asked about someone famous : who was famous ? Was it James as 007, Anthony Kelly the mayor of Ealing who was present today, Sonna(our volunteer singer) or someone else? She said are you the famous Steph? Then understood when explained and yes it was Steph who goes to different areas and does alot of exercises as her fellow goodgymers at Camden mentionned!! We are all famous in the volunteering world!!Apart from that James was helping with the grocery bags, Chandrima wrote the menu on the board and helped set up in the dinning area, whilst Steph Ducat was in the kitchen assisting the other chefs prepare todays food.

With volunteer numbers thin on the ground, our team rocked up on a Friday lunchtime with We Run Ealing to support the monthly Ealing Mile. Despite the inclement weather, runners still came out and duly ran the one mile loop of the park. Good on 'em, we say!

The 3 musketeers of the morning stayed on to serve food and hand out grocery bags. James handed out grocery bags, that he prepared with fellow volunteers earlier in the day. Chandrima was serving food and drinks in the dinning area whilstSteph Ducat was plating the food he cooked with the other chefs.

The chicken casserole with the puree and green beans was a success and the plates were empty and not much waste today!!This recipe is so good it should be illegal—fowl play at its finest. The ravioli was also served but not many vegetarian requests today.

Dessert : walnut brownies can't disappoint but the plum compote you either love it or hate. The kitchen and dining area calmed down : the clearing and cleaning started as a lot of pots, pans, plates and cluttery to deal with.

Another great day at ESK

Thursday is the new Friday. In the last two weeks, I shifted my Friday night routine (shopping for Mr G) to Thursday. Again, Mr G saved me from working from home past 6 pm and snacking all day. He’s my hero. He gave me a good excuse to finally swap the bland indoors for a cooler, darker outside, heavy rain on my face, and wind trying to pull my hood off. The run was no delight, really, but ten times better than marinating in mellow cosiness. Mr G makes me feel alive on evenings like that.

Fewer items to purchase in Sainsbury’s today, with grated cheese, oats and tuna off the list. I had been buying Mr G four packs of tuna tins in the last few weeks, so he might not have been able to keep up. Today was the week to restock his giant bag of walnut halves, though.

Mr G is looking into changing his diet a little bit, since, like many of us, he fell victim to skimpflation. The ready meals, like the chicken bake I get him, dramatically increased their potato-to-chicken ratio to the point they’re almost vegetarian meals, stuffed with cream and with traces of protein. Next time, when I shop for Mr G, I’ll keep an eye out for something more nutritious.

Mindset is everything, they say. And we can say that too. Why else would a group of five shun their cosy, dry homes and embark on a quest of shovelling wet woodchip with wet shovels into wet wheelbarrows to spread on a wet path during a wet night? A few of us had a tough day at work, others were fed up with sitting indoors for the whole day. A dose of healthy movement in the rain with our community in mind was exactly what we needed!

A pile of woodchip dropped near the Lammas Orchard (a.k.a. The Garden of Eden, according to our task owner, Trevor) was lying out there idly for weeks, not serving as a moisture absorber on the orchard's paths nor as mulch for the fruit trees. We secured tools for ourselves and came over to challenge the status quo. Half an hour of vigorous shovelling and some wheelbarrow runs after, we had a smooth, woodchipped path leading from the gate into the forest school area. We also ran out of coarse woodchip and switched tactics. Another fifteen minutes or so later, we used the unveiled compressed, decomposing woodchip as mulch, spreading it around most of the fruit trees in the garden.

Satisfied with the results, we closed our eyes for a while and indulged ourselves with a mental trip to a tropical beach. No holiday budget required, no CO2 emissions, but the feeling was there. Magical. Mindset is everything.

Have you ever wondered what happens to the dead Christmas trees Ealing Council collects each January after the festive season's end? They are being sent to a cemetery. Literally.

Just as a year ago, the 2025 trees got minced into woodchip and dropped at the South Ealing Cemetery. We were going to use it to cover the side paths and disguise the sins of the last year: suspicious walkways. A year ago, the woodchip the cemetery received was rough and contained large, sharp pieces of timber, not really classifying as woodchip on which you could walk safely and comfortably. This year, having learnt lessons from 2025, the Council provided fine woodchip, mostly made of fragrant conifer needles. What a treat to shovel!

The rain might have scared off some of this morning's crew, but five GoodGymers showed up and joined Paul and two other volunteers from Ealing Parks Foundation for a 2-hour workout.

Sevan, Steph and Kash knew the drill: shovel the woodchip into a wheelbarrow, transport, tip on a path, and rake, rinse and repeat. Devi joined the shovel & wheelbarrow team with enthusiasm and grit. Despite the cemetery task being only her second session and the weather being a far cry from what we call a glorious day, Devi has proven to be a tenacious GoodGymer, enjoying an intense, non-stop activity outdoors. Great to see such a spirit!

Meanwhile, James found raking the paths thoroughly satisfying - so satisfying that he levelled every single barrow of woodchip dropped on all three paths we managed to do in the two hours allocated. Being a perfectionist and having a special connection to the green space must have helped. Great work, James!

Paul was both impressed and delighted by the number of paths woodchipped, and particularly happy to see a pathway to the Mausoleum being covered, as it was on the route of the cemetery's guided walk.

According to our data scientist Steph, each of the GoodGymers transporting the woodchip covered roughly 5km of walking with a wheelbarrow. That's not only plenty of the daily steps walked by midday, but also a fantastic impact on the calm, historic green space of South Ealing for everyone to enjoy.