Rain did not stop play for a trio of Ealing GoodGymers, who showed up at Ealing Broadway on the first Tuesday evening of December for a very short run to Walpole Park and a classic winter task: woodchipping.

Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash made their way to the Walled Garden, where they excavated the old woodchip covering one of the paths between veg beds. They used the material as mulch and spread it on a large flower bed nearby. Clever! It wasn't their idea, to be fair, but the ranger's orders.

A couple of shovelling trips with a trolley and wheelbarrows to the other end of the park brought enough fresh woodchip to fill the whole path - that's quite a result for only three GoodGymers! In 2023, it took almost 4 times as many people to do that! What has changed? Well, primarily the location of the woodchip!

What has not changed was the wisdom of the philosopher:

Be woodchip, my friend. Empty your barrow. Be formless, shapeless, like woodchip. You put woodchip on a path, it becomes the path. You put woodchip into a barrow, it becomes the barrow. You put it in compost, it becomes the compost. Now, woodchip can nourish, or it can kill (weeds). Be wood chip, my friend.

We will be back soon to Walpole Park for more woodchip wisdom and making sure we finished the other path!

Harvey, Lena, and Iram braved the cold and rain to help the Hanwell Carnival team set up for their Winter Market and Grotto. With the aim of raising funds for next year’s carnival, there was plenty to prepare before the afternoon crowds arrived.

We got to work battening down the marquee hatches and securing the outdoor tent so the choir and visitors would have shelter if the weather didn't clear up. We shifted tables and benches to create space for craft stalls, a sheltered outdoor bar and a kids’ corner. A particularly spiky Spanish dagger (yucca) plant added unexpected jeopardy when it stabbed a volunteer’s finger, prompting a rapid table-based barricade to keep little hands safely away.

Find spots to hang the lights was a festive puzzle, but we managed to find various ways of securing lights onto the conservatory area.

There was even a guest appearance from Santa Claws (of the feline variety), who supervised proceedings from the warmth of inside the pub.

This Monday's volunteering session at the Ealing Food Cupboard was a quiter one, with just one GoodGymmer in attendance. The food delivery arrived a bit later than scheduled but the delay didn't dampen the progress of the session. Thanks to the help of the regular church volunteers, the crates were quickly unloaded and the generous variety of fruits and vegetables had been successfully organised and prepared for distribution. Today was marked by Beata's 50th good deed as well.

It was a glorious sunny morning in Pitshanger Park - but very cold. I marshalled at junior parkrun and cheered on 72 youngsters around the course. Parts of it were very muddy and there were a lot of puddles. It’s great seeing all the runners pass especially the really young ones. What a great way to start a Sunday morning

Maria , Steph Ducat and Harveyarrived early as ran to the park, so helped setup the course, mainly around the roundabout. we out signs up and Harvey did a course check. Alan arrived and joined the crew. While we were waiting for the children, a small girl arrived with her special necklace....a princess necklace which was going to help her with her running. Apparently she would not come without it : so we had a princess on the course.Maria then did the warm up: well done!! Joannaand the others were marshalling around the course which saw roughly 50 finish the course on a sunny chilly morning.

Maria and Steph Ducat met at Ealing Broadway Station to run Acton Junior parkrun. Nice chatty and easy pace 3km run to the park. Warmed up to help setup and then cheer the children on their run.