The William Hobbayne Centre, home to one of the UK's oldest charities in Hanwell, has hosted many memorable events over the years where GoodGymers have lent a helping hand. From hearty dinners at Burns Night to fundraising quizzes and youth performances by the Terry Marshall Academy, the centre has seen all kinds of gatherings. But this Tuesday evening, the backyard hosted a very different kind of gig.

Taking to the stage was the 7 Scratchers Army, pioneers of the industrial symphony.

If you've never heard of them, you're clearly not keeping up with Hanwell's music scene. The 7 Scratchers Army - although not always with the same seven musicians, and not always with seven performers at all - had been touring the William Hobbayne Centre for years. Their concerts usually coincide with the start of festival season, when the weeds are at their tallest and greenest, or with the end of summer, when the wind of change sends leaves drifting into the courtyard.

Their biggest audience, however, has always been the thick carpet of moss covering the concrete. The moment the 7 Scratchers Army stepped onto the stage, the moss almost peeled itself off the ground in anticipation, eager to see the hoes gleaming in the early evening sunshine.

Like every over-the-top rock band, the Scratchers brought an outrageous collection of instruments: mighty brooms, sturdy hoes and even snow shovels, despite it being late June.

Harvey, Steph, Lena, Amy, Sevan, Richard and Kash launched enthusiastically into one of their greatest hits, filling the air with the unmistakable sounds of scraping, sweeping and scratching. The rhythmic brushing of brooms blended with the harsher percussion of hoes and shovels before giving way to the gentle rustle of dry leaves and litter disappearing into Greener Ealing bags. You might have recognised the band’s classic Smells Like Greener Ealing there. The performance was so powerful it could probably be heard as far away as Sandy Park, perhaps reaching The Green W7 or maybe even all the way to The Fox.

June from the Hobbayne Charity, the sole member of the audience for this exclusive performance, noticed that the stage lacked decoration. She decided it needed flower garlands along the fence - but there was one problem: no tools! Without missing a beat, Richard dashed home to fetch his toolbox, returning before the next song, Screwing in the Name Of, began. Moments later, the soundtrack gained an unexpected electric guitar solo: the buzz of screws being driven into the fence.

Suddenly, the whole stage burst into bloom. Steph even wore a flower behind his ear, as if he were about to go to San Francisco with flowers in his hair. Surrounded by floral garlands, with brooms, hoes and shovels still playing their final movements, the Industrial Symphony reached its grand finale: Sweep Child O' Mine. June applauded enthusiastically.

As the last notes faded, the dust settled, and the low evening sun lit up the transformed courtyard. Gone were the litter, leaves, weeds and moss. In their place stood a tidy outdoor space, brightened with colourful flowers. Only then did the seven GoodGymers realise they hadn't actually been performing a concert at all. They had been volunteering at the William Hobbayne Centre, helping prepare the outdoor space for the charity's upcoming event. They even brought the chairs and tables from the centre so they could be easily pulled out of the outdoor storage when the celebrations began. Not bad for just one hour's work!

The 7 Scratchers Army will be back on the Hanwell tour next week, this time at Elthorne Park. Fancy joining the band? Whether they become Eight or Nine Scratchers is entirely up to you: Sign up now!

June was a month with loads of sunshine, which means people are out a lot which probably explains the amount of rubbish collected here and then in the borough. More and more of the laughing canisters - the big ones. Who is laughing now that we collected the litter

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.