At lunchtime today I was one of the servers- there was a constant flow of guests so we servers were kept very busy. Ealing Soup Kitchen has a new cooker but the ventilation needs connecting so it can’t be used yet - too risky for kitchen volunteers!
So lunch today was a selection of salads which received a mixed reception. Some of the guests - and volunteers (including me) - loved the meal but several were clearly missing their hot lunch. Clearly cous cous with pasta and pesto salads are not to everyone’s taste. Hopefully next week will see a return to normal service!

I was back on the tea and coffee service at Ealing Soup Kitchen today. In spite of it being a very warm day, tea and coffee was in great demand. Plus the biscuits of course. And the cereals that we started providing last year are very popular - there’s a good selection of cornflakes, Cheerios, Weetabix, Rice Krispies amongst others. Guests then moved on to the Snow Cones for something a bit cooler!

This task was done with help from the lovely people at Cultivate. The amazing Auberon from Cultivate provided the watering equipment, then him and me spread out to tackle the different parts of the garden that needed watering. We also got involved in a bit of weeding.

Overall, the garden is in good condition. With the weather getting hotter, I'm looking forward to making my way down here again.

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.