As a former pet shop owner and importer of birds and pets, Mr B knew a thing or two about animals. That meant that Mr B knew that he had a problem with foxes in his back garden. They kept making a mess there and as his eyesight had gotten worse, he wasn't able to keep the garden tidy anymore.

What Mr B told the GoodGymers:

"They've taken the head off a doll and ripped it to pieces"

What Kash heard because of Mr B's accent:

"They've taken the head off a doe and ripped it to pieces" 🦌😵

As Mr B had recently slipped on some twigs, Kash and Sevan's lines of enquiry were to:

1. Dust the paving for paw prints, removing any garden waste in their way
2. Clear sight lines by chopping any plants growing onto and over the paths
3. Investigate anything the foxes had left behind, including shredded deer

The pair started by sweeping and chopping the patio area nearest the house where they found lots of dried needles from a supposedly evergreen thuja tree overhead. There were huge fig trees towering over them too and clusters of white fluffly stuffing in the flower beds. Evidence of a potential teddy bear murder, so the fluff was collected for safe keeping 👮.

"I don't see any of the usual signs of foxes" - Sevan
"No..." - Kash
...
"I found a sign."
"I covered it with some cardboard."
"It smells! 🤢" - Kash

Well, that figured. Where there are foxes, there's fox 💩. Kash's shoe was also put in the evidence log.

Kash, now single shoed, chopped the bushes blocking the passage to stage 2 where the GoodGymers found on the grass a bunch of rotten bananas, some food containers, more white stuffing and yellow fur. Further evidence for the log book. Photographs were taken and catalogued.

Sevan concluded the investigation when he discovered branding on the yellow fur of a dog toy company. This was a case where the victim had been wrongly identified. No dolls or teddy bears had been killed, only a canine's companion.

There were still mysteries to be solved. Who was eating takeaways in Mr B's back garden 🥡 and why were a bunch of rotten bananas sitting on the grass 🍌? Fingers were again pointed at the foxes and there were rumours of the foxes having stolen them from local shops. Without any hard evidence Kash and Sevan couldn't take action, so they filed their paperwork and said that they'd keep an eye on things and come back again if there were more unusual occurrences.

3 Goodgymers were up bright and early to volunteer at Southall Parkrun.Jacquie walked while Richard and Steph Ducat ran. Sunny Saturday and roughly 124 runners/walkers completed the course after doing 3 laps around the park and getting confused with the magical roundabout. Go around it 3 times then go left to the finish. All finishers were welcomed by Jacquie as was on token duties and then getting scanned by Richard. Steph Ducat was marshal at point 2 which is the double marshalling point as parkrunners go past on both sides.

The morning was warming up as JP arrived at Ms M’s place in Southall to help with some lawn mowing in the front and back gardens.

As we looked at the lawns they were bone dry and short so mowing didn’t seem like the best plan. So I offered to clear up and bag the swathes of dead leaves in the farther reaches of the garden.

Ms M was ok with the plan so I got going and after 90 mins had filled 6 black bags with dry leaves, ready to head off for the rest of the day.

Report by Maria

On Thursday evening, the Ealing GoodGym team supported Hanwell Boxing School, a registered charity and amateur boxing club that provides affordable boxing training, fitness coaching, and structured youth development programmes for people from all backgrounds.

The group, consisting of Sevan, Giles, Kash, and Maria, met at Ealing Broadway Station, where we were delighted to welcome a new member to the team, Bilal, who arrived well prepared for the task, complete with his gloves.

Before heading to the task, the group completed a short warm-up led by Kash and set off on a run of just over 3 km. Kash split the group into two teams so everyone could run or run/walk at a comfortable pace. Sevan, acting as backmarker, ran/walked with Bilal and Giles, while Maria and Kash ran ahead to the task location to meet Scott, who cycled there, and the task owner, Linda.

Linda was very pleased to see the GoodGym team and explained the evening's task. The boxing school was preparing to welcome new members and launch new activities, so the outdoor space needed some attention. Our job was to clear leaves from the pathways and remove overgrown vine plants and ivy to make the area cleaner, safer, and more welcoming.

Linda provided all the necessary equipment, including brushes, large plastic buckets, and digging shovels. Initially, Scott, Kash, and Maria began sweeping leaves from the entrance area. When the rest of the team, Sevan, Giles, and Bilal, arrived, we divided into two groups.

One team focused on removing ivy from the corners of the site and gathering leaves with shovels into piles. The leaves were then transferred into large buckets and carried to a designated grass area for disposal, following Linda's instructions. The second team concentrated on sweeping leaves from across the pathways into central piles, making collection easier and more efficient.

As time passed, Kash began to wonder whether we would manage to complete all the work before the end of the session. However, the GoodGym team never lets its leader down. Everyone increased their efforts, worked together efficiently, and successfully completed the task on time.

The transformation was impressive. The pathways looked much cleaner, tidier, and more inviting, and Linda was delighted with the results. Seeing the positive impact of our work made all the effort worthwhile.

At the end of the session, the team made their separate journeys home. Kash, Sevan, and Giles ran back to Ealing Broadway, Scott collected his bike, Bilal headed for the bus, and Maria walked home after another rewarding GoodGym mission.

This was not your typical GoodGym session in Ealing: Wednesday evening tasks are a rarity for us, and we usually venture to Southall in daylight on a weekend! But not this time!

The session was organised at short notice last Saturday to finish off the concreting job from last weekend. But then came the plot twist: after over 50 dry days, the rain finally came, although not much of it. Seeing the forecast, Ash, our task owner, was worried that the concrete wouldn’t dry and set properly, so he decided to finish the task himself earlier in the week.

Little did he know that eight GoodGymers - a number surpassing even last Saturday's attendance - were already planning to turn up for the Wednesday session! And little did we know that Ash had already beaten us to it.

For such a big group, Ash had a plan B: bringing a couple of other projects to fruition.

🌱 Task 1

Not far from the newly concreted area, next to the two 1,000-litre water containers, Scott, Freya, Afshin, Alana and Janet got to work clearing the area. They removed logs and weeds, levelled the ground and, finally, covered it with woodchip - which turned out to be Janet’s favourite activity!

Once covered with a membrane and grid, the cleared area will become a seating space where people from the local community can come together. It will also leave room for a greenhouse.

It was the first ever GoodGym task for Alana and Janet, who decided to try GoodGym together. Welcome, both - hopefully we’ll see you again soon!

⚡ Task 2

You could simply call it digging a trench, but we have a better name for it! Electrifying Western Road!

Steph Ducat, Richard and Kash picked up their mattocks and got to work digging a trench for a pipe that will carry electric cables from the solar panel to the shed, passing through the polytunnel. It was hard graft! The team managed to reach an acceptable depth (although not the ideal 40cm) just as it started getting dark.

There wasn’t enough time to line the trench with terram and cover it with sand, so we had to leave the newly opened chasm secured for another day. Before leaving, we secured the area with a rope after discovering that children would be visiting Western Road the following day. Safety first!

We didn’t get around to naming our new canyon. Any ideas? Put them in the comments!

What's next?

If you fancy another Southall session, there’s one coming up next Thursday, when we’ll be spreading the word about a beginners’ running programme and helping people in Southall get active. And if you’re curious to see what’s next for Western Road, join us next month for a Saturday morning session!

Our mid-August Tuesday evening group run was the perfect time to let women of Acton know about the upcoming final term of the Movement on The Mount, starting in September. What is Movement on the Mount, you may ask? The project is all about helping local people get more active.

Action West London runs programmes for women who may face barriers such as low confidence, language difficulties, low income or caring responsibilities. The organisers want to encourage women under 16 and over 65 coming from varying backgrounds to try free classes, including street dance, bodyweight circuits, yoga, stretching and relaxation, and many more.

GoodGym Ealing supported the programme once again, with 7 GoodGymers distributing approximately 400 leaflets around the letterboxes in the neighbourhood.

Since the theme for today was movement, Harvey, Sevan, Steph Ducat and Kash ran to the task together, Giles - sporting his new GoodGym t-shirt - ran directly from home, Maria walked, and Scott cycled. But that's not all! We also stopped along the way to tackle exercise stations, including jump squats, squat holds, wall sits and incline push-ups - all making use of the urban environment around us! The flyering itself added around 3km of extra walking to everyone’s day.

Impact

Earlier in the year, we asked Action West London to share some statistics about the women who registered for Movement on the Mount after our leafletting tasks. Here is what we heard back:

• 22% of the people who signed up found out about the programme from the leaflet
• 37% of them didn't currently exercise
• 68% were non-white
• 31% were white British
• 22.4 % were in the 45-54 age group
• 15% were in the 55-64 age group

What's coming up next?

There are more opportunities to get active with GoodGym in the coming weeks!

Thursday 20th August Getting Hanwell School of Boxing into shape 💪 Help a sports charity with the tidy-up ahead of restarting classes in September

Saturday 22nd August Volunteering at Southall parkrun led by Steph; 🧭 Explorers wanted! 🥾 Clear a path for the rangers 🌿 Afternoon session at Grove Farm

Tuesday 25th August Wee Forest, Big Problems 🌳✂️ Keep a special community garden accessible to and usable by all, led by Sevan