Visit of my 2nd coach Mr T today - cooler weather but still hot in his flat. An hour chat - time flies.

On the menu today was coronation chicken with potatoes and salad or vegetable frittata. I can vouch for the tastiness of the latter but most of the clients today loved the chicken dish. I was serving tables and we can tell whether a meal is popular by how clean the plates are! It was regular client Geeta’s birthday, we all sang happy birthday and presented her with a cake and candle. As always it was hard work but truly a privilege to be a small part of this wonderful organisation.

Another Friday morning and another tea/coffee/cereal session at Ealing Soup Kitchen. The cereal table was started last year and is a great success - although I have to remember not to get the packets mixed up! This week’s favourite was Coco Pops 😊

At my usual Friday evening shopping for Mr G, I've got him some good stuff like cabbage, greens, yoghurt, Ryvita and nuts. Only my timing was a bit bad, as I didn't manage to secure a second packet of panini (Mr G, unusually, wanted two of them!), so I had to return with a packet of panini and a packet of ciabatta rolls.

On the last Tuesday of July, the temperatures didn't seem to drop at all, but neither did the number of GoodGymers at our regular weekday evening session! Maybe the holiday season hasn't quite kicked in yet, or perhaps Hanwell is proving just as hot a destination as Ibiza.

Another week of tasks in Hanwell brought ten eager GoodGymers ready to tackle whatever challenge awaited. We were delighted to see Kristian returning for another 7 km run after his GoodGym debut the previous Tuesday, joining Sevan and Kash for the journey. Hanwell brought together locals like Harvey and Richard, alongside regulars living in neighbouring boroughs, Afshin and Ash, making the journey for a Tuesday night workout. Steph Ducat, meanwhile, arrived looking battle-worn after an unpleasant encounter on the road, but wasn't about to miss the task, swapping running for some fresh air and volunteering while he recovers. It was great to see Freya again, and Maria, who cycled all the way from the eastern edge of the borough.

Arriving at the Stables in Brent Lodge Park, the team met Andrea from Hanwell Community Centre, one of the organisers of the Hanwell Hootie - a free, volunteer-led music festival celebrating Hanwell's legendary link to Jim Marshall, "The Father of Loud". Andrea had been rummaging through the Stables' attic in search of a set of rubbish bins that had gone missing in action, but they were nowhere to be found.

Missing bins weren't Andrea's only problem. Huge stacks of boxes had been piled tightly together, blocking access to the Hootie festival furniture. The collection of vintage chairs and sofas is always the first thing we pull out and clean when preparations for the festival begin each year. Now the furniture was completely inaccessible, setting up a headache for whoever needed it next, whether for the Hootie or another community event. Our mission was to undo the chaos caused by another team's haphazard storage of ten drum kits and to save future volunteers from the same predicament.

With twenty keen hands, we quickly rolled up our imaginary sleeves (it was far too hot for actual sleeves) and got to work. After shifting the boxes of drum kits from the first pallet wedged in the doorway, we finally managed to peek into the blocked room and saw... drum roll... even more mountains of boxes. Still no sign of the furniture.

"You know, this is impossible. I think we need to call it off," Andrea admitted, having a moment of doubt.

Impossible? There's no such word in the GoodGym Ealing dictionary! Sevan squeezed between the wall and the towering stacks of boxes to reach the back of the dark, packed room, where he finally spotted the hidden sofas and chairs. The question was: how do we get them out? Sevan reckoned that if we cleared enough space, the team could attack the task from both sides. That's exactly what we did.

Meanwhile, others removed another pallet of drum kits and freed the first sofa. The chairs and another couch soon followed it. The seemingly insurmountable challenge quickly turned into child's play for our large, well-coordinated team. Oh, and did I mention that Harvey found the missing bins?

We finished well ahead of schedule, neatly reorganising the furniture into an accessible space in the middle of the Stables and returning all the drum kits and amps to the side room. It was a solid functional workout, with enough lifting to get everyone sweating but enough teammates to make it fun and surprisingly easy.

Next week, our run heads to another corner of the borough for a mulching session. Expect plenty of shovelling, wheelbarrowing and teamwork. Sign up now!

On a summer Sunday morning, six GoodGymers joined Ben Morris from Clean Up River Brent for a very strange burial. Instead of mourning the dead, we were celebrating life. Instead of saying goodbye, we were welcoming a new beginning for the River Brent.

It wasn't a complete beginning, to be frank. The fourth GoodGym visit this year to Sixty Trees Way in Gurnell was all about planting. Ben brought the leftover hemp agrimony we hadn't finished planting last time, along with some new, lesser-known plugs. A totally new addition was a coir mat with a layer of water-loving grass growing on it.

"We are going to dig a shallow grave here," Ben announced, having chosen a fitting spot on a terraced riverbank.

But before its burial, the mat had to undergo a bit of ritual soaking. The GoodGymers gently placed it in the shallow water at the river's edge and got to work digging and turning the soil. With only one shovel, Kash became the chief gravedigger, while James - a GoodGymer and Himalayan balsam basher in one - diligently broke up the soil with a fork. Scott and Sevan loosened the soil with forks to prepare it for the smaller plugs, while Steph Ducat trimmed the dried reed stems to encourage fresh growth. Meanwhile, Ed ventured into the river to fill a bucket and water the previously planted juncus and iris.

Did I mention that it was Ed's very first GoodGym task? Curious about river conservation and balsam bashing, he showed up bright and early to experience the campaign against invasive species first-hand. Digging, planting, watering, clearing up, and untying bindweed from the reeds gave him a good taste of what Clean Up River Brent is all about. Well, apart from the famed Himalayan balsam bashing. Welcome, Ed! We hope there'll be a next time, and you'll get to find your balsam - although we've been pretty happy to see it's been kept at bay this year!

Once the coir mat's roots had absorbed enough water from the river, Steph and Ed carried it to the terrace, laid it in the shallow grave, covered the edges with soil, and then pinned it down with metal poles to stop it slipping into the river.

Post-burial, the final half-hour of the session was dedicated entirely to planting and watering. Ealing hadn't seen proper rain for almost four weeks, so the new plants were in desperate need of moisture, especially with the forecast for the coming week offering little hope.

Not many burials end with everyone hoping that what's in the grave grows as quickly as possible, but this one certainly did. Now all that's left is for the rain to play its part - or for keen volunteers with buckets and wellies to give the new plants a helping hand.