Four Goodgymers present for the lunch service. It started very quite in the morning and throughout the day the temperature was going up but the flow of people was still very smooth which helps the table service. James was giving out parcels ...90 of them. Delphine joined the kitchen crew as was on pot was duties. Rainu was serving guests and was in her element. Steph Ducat was still in kitchen plating either the chicken casserole or a veggie option with a hand made mash and sone green beans. The temperature reached 30 degres in thr kitchen despite having a fan put i it. The flow was very smooth and the guests enjoyed the food. We started getting Michelin ratings and we got several 20/10 for the food. Let's put a Michelin star outside of the ESK entrance. the crew plated just over 100 main courses...yet we counted and to be exact it was 105 plates. Dessert was either you love it or you hate it : you make your own mind on this one. The desert was a Tiramisu!!This was a last minute option as originally it was going to be apple pie with custard. We know the guests love their custard so maybe next time it will be apple pie and custard.

For Kash and Sevan's 4th missionversary 🎂, like their first mission in 2022, groceries were involved and they were helping an old favourite, Mr G.

Mr G had a few new issues since last week's shopping mission and the most important one was that everything was disconnected from his home broadband. His provider switched out his router a few days ago and didn't connect any of his devices to the new wifi. As well as Mr G's wifi being out of tune, so was his hearing. Everyone had to shout to be heard by him, making all attempts to communicate pretty noisy.

On the upside, Mr G had also had an epiphany (or maybe a dis-cod-very) during the week. Why did he keep buying salmon that he didn't like when he really enjoyed cod? He got out a pen and a white label that he stuck over the salmon packaging and got Kash to write "fresh white cod" neatly in its place. It would do until he got around to making a new bundle of labels.

With the shopping list fishnished, Kash and Sevan set off to Sainsbury's and spilt up to get a few of Mr G's favourites and some new additions, including tortellini. They found everything except the often-out-of-stock ciabattas, buying some panini bread instead. As it turned out Mr G had recently decided that paninis were the better of the 2 so, this turned into a happy coincidence.

Back at Mr G's, he was very happy with his haul of cod, both breaded and natural. Kash helped pack some groceries away while Sevan explained the magic of tortellini and that it can easily be cooked from frozen. Another amazing dishcovery for Mr G this week.

Both James and Steph Ducat were early at the crypt of the church to help out at ESK. Both regulars and before walking in they already knew were they would be working. James in the prep area of grocery bags and Steph Ducat in the kitchen. It was very calm : was a storm coming? The kitchen was in full swing but no chaos. 90 grocery bags were prepared and ready for later. The doors opened at 11am for the customers and it was very quite. Tea, coffee were served and bingo was also starting. In the kitchen, the crew were on time and had some spare time on their hands.

On a Thursday evening, Acton Town station was the scene of many disappointed passengers facing the disrupted Piccadilly line and the end of their westbound journeys. It was also the meeting point for three GoodGymers, who had beaten the unreliable Tube by choosing to run (like Harvey) or walk (like Steph Ducat and Kash).

The day was hot and dry, but not as bad as a couple of days earlier, when the GoodGymers had almost melted on their way to the group run task. The breeze gently cooled the team on their brief jog to the Wildflower Trail to pick up watering cans. During such hot weeks, it seemed like everything was thirsty: the GoodGymers, the grass, trees, pigeons, and even the pavements. But nothing was as thirsty as the Monster of Acton.

To save the people of Acton from the tyranny of the beast, the brave trio, armed only with watering cans, walked to the Pokopia Garden sprawling in front of St Mary's Church and Morrisons. The monstrous garden was actually quite a handsome beast, with plenty of greenery and pictures of cute Pokémon dotted around. It was popular with children and their parents, who visited to explore the planters and take photos. Little did they know how much that garden could drink! Neither did the GoodGymers — so they filled their cans and started watering it.

The garden drank and drank and drank. The trio watered the planters and the Poké Ball terrariums. Then they poured even more water on them, watching how quickly the liquid soaked into the soil. And the garden drank and drank and drank. A lady appeared out of nowhere (or perhaps out of Morrisons) with a bucket of water, then quickly backed off, happy and relieved that the GoodGymers were on watering duty. The trio wouldn't have minded turning into a quartet, as the garden drank and drank and drank...

Harvey, Steph, and Kash eventually moved on to watering the "living wall" structure, which, despite still looking pretty cool, wasn't so lively anymore. Some of the plants had unfortunately dried out, and some trays no longer had any soil in them. But when the GoodGymers poured the water, the wall drank and drank and drank. The GoodGymers must have used 180 litres of water on the living wall alone, having to top up the trays that the water poured from the top couldn't reach. It was literally thirsty work.

After a good 50 minutes of hauling three cans between the water source and the dried-out planters, the monster was eventually satisfied — at least for the day — and calm enough to leave the people of Acton alone. The blissful residents could once again marvel at the wonders of the Pokopia Garden, totally unaware that the pretty beast could have sucked all the moisture out of them. Thank goodness we had GoodGym on duty! And what a Thirsty Thursday it has been!

With temperatures hitting 35 degrees, this was never going to be an evening for speedy runs. The team wisely swapped the run for a walk to the task, arriving slightly later than usual - but with the mission still being crystal clear.

Sevan: “Everybody be cool, this is a litter pick!”
Kash “Any of you rubbish tricks move and I'll bin every last bit of ya!”

The assignment was simple: clear the alleyway all the way down towards Park Royale, tackling the usual collection of discarded fast-food wrappers, cans, and mystery debris lurking in the bushes.

As the team spread out with litter pickers and bags, accompanied by Harvey’s improvised Dick Dale & The Del-Tones beatbox soundtrack, the conversations drifted into full-on Tarantino territory.

Steph: “You know what we call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?”
Harvey: “You don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?”
Steph: “No, man, we got the metric system. We wouldn't know what a Quarter Pounder is.”
Harvey: “What'd you call it?”
Steph: “We call it a Royale with Cheese.”
Harvey: “Royale with Cheese. What do you call a Big Mac?”
Steph: “Big Mac's a Big Mac, but we call it Le Big Mac.”
Harvey: “Le Big Mac! Ahaha, what do you call a Whopper?”
Steph: “I dunno, I didn't go into Burger King.”

The GoodGymers didn’t need to go into Burger King either. Burger King came to them. Wrappers, drink cups and abandoned fries cartons flooded the top section of the alleyway. Sadly, despite reaching Park Royale, the team found very little actual “Royale with Cheese” evidence, only Captain Morgan bottles coming in all shapes and sizes.

Among the haul were disposable vapes, sweets packaging, beer cans and enough assorted rubbish to fill three bags, alongside a couple of small fly-tips cleared from the passage. Like the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, some mysteries remained unsolved. Who leaves this much litter behind? Why were there so many Captain Morgan bottles in one place? Who planted a Heineken tree? And most importantly: where was the cheese?

Still, there was good news beneath the grime. Compared to the previous visits, the alleyway was noticeably cleaner, proving that repeated community action really is making a difference. The path to Park Royale may not have been paved with gold, but after one sweaty evening with GoodGym, it was at least a little less paved with rubbish.

Alan, Tom and Steph Ducat tackled the new edition of the Queen of the Suburbs. Not an easy one today due to the heat but they managed to conquer the heat. This couldn't of happened without all the volunteers on the course who kept them hydrated. Great aid station in Southall with the GG Ealing crew