GoodGym Ealing's first group run to the Polygon, linked to St Mary's church, took each of the runners back to their childhood. Waiting outside, they wondered what they'd find inside and thought about memories from when they were little.

"[The toys] will probably be sticky" - Freya

They were welcomed by task owner Wei Hei, who introduced them to the jobs for this evening. There were tiny chairs to clean, there were small kitchen toys to be washed and there were big puzzles to be solved. Each big kid chose the task that they would enjoy the most.

Harvey and Freya took the tiny chairs outside into the sun to scrub them down and let them dry. They were careful to not use too little, nor too much detergent as they were warned. Too much would lead to an explosion of bubbles that couldn't be rinsed away, but the pair got it just right.

Conor and Jo went into the adult sized kitchen to wash the play kitchen equipment, cleaning plates, toasters and slices of pizza. By the time they were done, the plastic food was ready to be chewed on again by the children.

The final group was bigger. Maria and Chris, who made achieving his 💯th good deed look like child's play, were preparing play bags to give out during church services. They were filled with fun toys that were also quiet toys, which would keep children entertained while the adults were busy. Each bag contained a toy, a puzzle, a book and a jigsaw. Next to them, Kash and Sevan were sorting through a jumble of toys that had already been played with, getting them ready for Maria and Chris to pack, ready for another child to enjoy.

The team blitzed through all of the tasks, having a lot of fun along the way. They left Wei Hei very grateful for what they'd achieved.

"You've done more that I could have imagined."
"Thank you!" - Wei Hei

As they did such a great job, a return visit may be on the cards when the plastic pizza slices feel a bit sticky again. 🍕

The Sunday morning volunteering session at South Ealing Cemetery - a place that Ealing Parks Foundation transforms into a serene, green space, safe and friendly for the wider public to use - was powered by six GoodGymers. Jemma and Jo both joined for their second GoodGym task, while Maria, Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash were no strangers to the joys of Sunday morning Ealing sessions. Steph, Maria and Kash even got to do a solid warm-up earlier on in Lammas Park, with bodyweight exercises on the menu.

The workout-for-good at the cemetery was not a light one, despite the activity description promising planting geraniums. The space for plants had to be prepared first, which involved removing barrows and barrows of excess soil from the bed in front of the chapel. The amount of dirt the GoodGymers and other volunteers dug out and wheeled to the hidden parts of the cemetery could create a brand new flower bed!

Digging in the earth at the graveyard wouldn't be complete without someone excavating some suspicious bones in the process. Jo and Jemma were pondering where the remains came from.

"That bone is so small. Couldn't belong to a human!"
"Who knows - could be a bone from a pinky?"
"There are a lot of chicken shops and foxes nearby. They must have dragged this here."

Meanwhile, Sevan discovered different findings at the back of the cemetery: men's trousers and kids' orange football trainers, the latter in pretty good condition. The owners haven't been found, dead or alive.

While the rest of the team was pressing on to complete levelling the flowerbed, Maria started planting geraniums, and Jemma sprinkled the seed mix over the beds. Jane, the task owner, promised a display of colour as a reward in a couple of months when the plants would start to flower. She was also impressed with what an addition of GoodGymers brought to the community day.

"That's amazing. Without you, we would be digging that bed for three days!"

The geranium is only a temporary solution, and different flowers will be planted in the same bed in autumn. In the meantime, we are looking forward to seeing the area blossom when we run past it in the coming months.

Sunday morning, before the volunteering event at South Ealing Cemetery, saw a GoodGym takeover of the Lammas Parkour Park! A full-body workout Steph, Maria and Kash went through combined two rounds of pull-ups (or less demanding front rows), chin-ups, narrow and wide push-ups, bench step-ups, hanging leg raises, side-to-side jumps and sit-ups. The arms + legs + core session was particularly challenging yet rewarding for those who'd consider their upper limbs "chicken arms". Well done to those who haven't chickened out of the workout!

After completing the 20-minute routine, the team walked to South Ealing Cemetery, with a pit-stop for coffee, to do even more upper-body work, with digging and wheelbarrowing included!

Maria, Sevan and Kash ran from their morning task at South Ealing Cemetery to the heart of Acton to visit newly opened Pokopia Garden, meet the plant-based Pokémon living there and check if their neighbourhood is safe and tidy.

Within 10 minutes the trio checked the signs and planters - all intact - cleared very few bits of litter, and reported back to the Pokopia team about the state of the area. One of the solar panels powering a spotlight appeared to be cracked, but - as it was a very sunny Sunday - the team couldn't tell whether that affected the light at all.

It was good to see the little garden looked after well and bringing brightness and colour to the busy Acton square.

Haven't seen Mr R in a while and I was back to freshen up his front garden. The reason none of us were back is that he had a spinal operation and was in recovery. He is feeling better and wanted his front garden sorted as the weeds came back. I noticed that the strimmer was still in the entrance and when I asked if it was working, Mr R replied do you want to use it and can you check. I did and the battery still had some juice. I took the usual tools on top of the strimmer in order to dig roots etc

When I finished and buzzed Mr R, he was astonished what I did and just repeated a few times "What have you done?" - he was surprised that I did the whole garden on my own in one go. The Strimmer effect!!!He now will have the strimmer fully charged for us as seen the result of using it. Until next time for the back garden.

My Friday evening shopping mission for Mr G, apart from being an opportunity to run 7km with a purpose after finishing work, was an educational experience. Mr G taught me a classic piece that should be sung with a Cockney accent. I didn't dare to sing it myself on the spot, without practising.

My old man's a dustman
He wears a dustman's hat
He wears cor-blimey trousers
And he lives in a council flat

It was good to see Mr G reconciling with cavolo nero, his once-favourite leafy vegetable, which had recently fallen out of favour. I bought him three items from the cabbage family today: sweetheart cabbage, cavolo nero and brussels sprouts! Perhaps, one day, Mr G will try veggies that are not green - and not cabbage - and will fall in love with them.