Our Sunday chatty runs are normally very early, before Acton Juniors Parkrun. Today was different as we are 7 days from GG Ealing 10th birthday, so after the GG crew volunteered at the Junior Parkrun, we went to Boulangerie Jade for our usual coffee stop before moving on. After a lovely drink, it was time to set off from the Boulangerie on an historical chatty run through parts of Acton and going towards West Ealing. Roughly a 6.5 km run. Three became four as Maria who just got her wings this week decided to fly with Kash, Sevan and Steph Ducat.

Short run to Acton Market place where 3 keys event/tasks are part of GG Ealing : - Pokopia Garden(Pokemon) : newish task with head office and Cultivate London - St Mary's church Acton : tasks with Ealing Repair Cafe in the church - recycling at its beast - Leafleting meeting point to promote several charities in the area of Acton

Then we set off direction of Action Station to stop in front of the Acton Transport Museum where we had some sessions with All Aboard Club who allow young children with autism to build and play with trains. We started originally in Ealing at the Log Cabin.

After this short stop, we set off in the side streets towards Ealing common to stop and observe where we did several tasks of trimming trees that were quite low. Ranger asked us in the past to trim them to make it safer for walkers, runners but also have a clear view of the park when walking.

We could have sat and chatted in the park, but we had better ideas - run in the back streets towards Walpole park, where we help the ranger throughout the year - a lot of wood chipping in winter!! We also did help when there was a photo competition/exposition in the park.

The next 2 stops were close to each other : St Johns Church and the Salvation Army where GG Ealing volunteer with Ealing Soup Kitchen. ESK are there for the homeless : cooking food, giving food parcels, providing clothing, showers, hair cut and also a place for them to be indoors with others. Sessions happen mainly on Friday but we have also Monday, Saturday and Sunday sessions between the 2 locations. The 2 are separate by Dean Gardens which we ran through and of course some of the Goodgymers volunteered here with Cultivate London who focus on the green spaces.

Then it was time to go to our final point : West Ealing Station. This is one of the stations that GG and We Run Ealing have as stop when we do the Ealing Tube station social runs.

I was back at Mrs A to carry on with the back garden as it is massive and its the home to brambles. This week it was mission to carry on behind the garage. Found the usual gold balls and berries, but also found some VHS tapes, some cables, metal poles and Mrs A sons bike from the 80's...on your bike!!!He was surprised I was able to get it out - seems that he will do some DIY on it to try and fix it. Then I started to see the neighbors fence and the end of the garage by the wall. Not only did I find berries, I found grapes along the garage - too early to pick them and eat them...will need to wait a bit to eat the grapes.

Our visit to Acton Juniors this morning was Maria's 101st good deed. She secretly snuck in an under the radar session on Wednesday, when no one was looking to reach the wonderful milestone of century of sessions with GoodGym, earning her 🪽🪽s. As a result, Maria had the honour of wearing the pink GoodGym angel wings at today's task 😇. She's become a GoodGym regular since joining 2 years ago and has been to many different types of tasks, walking and cycling her way all over the borough 👏🙌✨.

Steph and Maria arrived early for the Junior parkrun and helped Marco, today's Run Director, by completing the course check and setting up signs and cones. Rather than describing the course layout to today's runners, Marco told everyone that it was "complicated" at the briefing, but there were marshals - like Steph and Maria - around the course to guide the runners which worked perfectly.

Kash and Sevan avoided those complexities by volunteering in the funnel where they were barcode scanning and timekeeping. Together they logged the 32 runners who completed the course today. It was again noticeably a lot quieter than usual as many people were still away on holiday, so runner numbers are expected to bounce back as the end of the school holidays gets nearer.

With nearly a decade of doing good while getting fit, GoodGym Ealing has accumulated lots of history along the way. In a run-up to our GoodGym's 10th birthday, our run leaders are hosting anniversary runs and walks celebrating the history of GoodGym Ealing.

The first session of the series, led by Kash, began at Bodyline Studios - the starting point of the very first Ealing group run on 9th August 2026. The location served as the meeting point for almost every Tuesday group run until 2026, when we admitted that we've lost the links with the fitness studio and swapped the starting location to Ealing Broadway Station - hopefully, more convenient and easier to find for the new joiners.

Richard, Sevan and Steph followed Kash for the 5km hilly fun to Horsenden Hill, stopping on the way to listen about the connection of different places to our GoodGym.

Castlebar Road - the location is on the route of the Ealing Half Marathon, a race GoodGym Ealing had supported as early as 2018, with leafletting task. When it comes to the road itself, our team, each September since 2021, helped with putting up the advance signage ahead of the event.

Pitshanger Lane - the home of the Christmas-themed Light Up the Lane event, sadly discontinued, but supported by GoodGym in years 2018, 2019 and 2023. We have also stopped in front of Oscars125 café, where we used to gather for coffee after Pitshanger junior parkrun.

Pitshanger Park - while the park doesn't host an adult parkrun (at least on the official one), it features the 2km junior parkrun course for children. Between 2022 and 2026, 30 different GoodGymers have supported that junior parkrun with 59 tasks. While we're still fond of that event and our support is never turned down, the run leaders built a really strong volunteer base. We decided to step down from overfilling the volunteer roster, and redirected our tasks to different junior parkruns.

River Brent - the youngest of today's connections we've explored. The river served as a reminder of our partnership with Clean Up River Brent, an organisation created in 2021 and connected with us since 2023. Through 14 tasks, 17 different GoodGymers have supported litter picking in waders, removing invasive species from riverbanks, and, recently, planting native water species along the river.

IMPACT Theatre - an art centre whose aim is to promote a positive image of disability, while helping adults with learning difficulties develop communication and self-confidence, through participation in performing and creative arts. We've partnered with them since 2020 and across 14 tasks, helped with sanding and painting walls and moving equipment. 45 different GoodGymers have been in IMPACT Theatre to complete a task.

Finally, our running group arrived at Horsenden Farm - one of our absolute favourites for both GoodGymers and corporate volunteer groups led by GoodGym run leaders in the past. The rich history of the farm and Horsenden Hill itself, together with its many connections to GoodGym, could easily fill a storytelling session of its own.

GoodGymers took a stroll through the deep dark wood.
Elsa saw them and GoodGymers looked good.

Elsa, from Friends of Horsenden Hill, knew the fearless 14 GoodGymers who arrived at Horsenden Farm on a sunny Saturday were the only team large and brave enough to work so close to where the Gruffalo lurked in the woods behind the farmhouse.

First, she asked Gus, Steph Ducat and Richard to gather the timber stacked beside the farmhouse and reinforce the dead hedge. A sturdy barrier against the hungry Gruffalo, perhaps?

Next, Elsa sent Afshin, Iram and Kash to wheelbarrow a mountain of green waste - rotting onion tops, spoiled peppers, pattypan squash and potatoes - to a spot near the canoe club. Was this a cunning plan to tempt the Gruffalo towards the canal instead of the farm?

Finally, Elsa recruited Andrew, Breda, Emma, Harvey, Melissa, Penny, Scott and Sevan for an enormous weeding job, hoeing and scraping the grass and weeds from the path leading to the Gruffalo's lair. Surely she wasn't making it easier to spot the monster's turned-out toes? Not at all. By clearing away the soft carpet of greenery, she'd ensured that if the Gruffalo sneaked in to steal the pigs, the scrape of his terrible claws against the hard, dry ground would give him away long before he reached the farm.

With the farm secured from its fearsome woodland neighbour, the GoodGymers, led by Elsa's trusty dog Archie, headed through the deep dark wood, following the heavenly aroma of Horsenden's famous pizza. Then, suddenly, they stumbled upon... the Gruffalo!

"Here's my favourite food!" the Gruffalo said. '"GoodGymer crumble!"

But one sniff of the pizza wafting through the woods changed his mind. By the time he reached the farm, there wasn't a slice left. The well-fed GoodGymers simply strolled past the Gruffalo's lair on their way to their second task at the top of Horsenden Hill, leaving the poor monster to rummage through the pile of green waste by the canal in search of a few scraps of rotten onion.

August is the start of harvesting season at Feeding Ealing. Gathering organic produce is a daily activity as food that's not ripe one day can be perfectly ripe the next and spoiled 2 days after that. Today, task owner Joseph gave the group a tour of the flourishing raised beds outside and polytunnel inside (which was toasty warm), then he set everyone a sight test.

Some okra had been harvested on Friday and today, the GoodGymers were again looking for any that were ripe and ready to pick. The okra was great at hiding itself, so good eyes were needed to spot the green fingers between the equally green leaves and identically green stems. Everything on the plant was surprisingly prickly too, leaving everyone a bit itchy after filling their baskets. Tomatoes and karela, which Delphine thought looked reptilian, were also picked to be donated.

With all of the ripe produce gathered, the next most important task was watering. The recent hot weather meant that twice daily watering was needed, especially in the polytunnel where temperatures can hit 50C. With only 3 hoses, Gus, Delphine and Harvey grabbed their spray guns and soaked all of the plants from top to bottom. Some of the team regressed back to their childhoods and skooshed each other as well as the plants with their Super S-okras, claiming that they were keeping everyone cool, which they kind of were.

There are plenty more fruit and vegetables that are still growing on Feeding Ealing's trees, bushes and plants. Honeydew melons, peppers, tomatoes and ginger to name a few. As they become ready to harvest too, we'll be back with another session at Feeding Ealing to help them collect their crop to donate to local good causes. Keep and eye out for new sessions as they're listed.