On Monday morning, a trio of GoodGymers helped unload the deliveries at the St Mary's food cupboard: the regular Martin, very active new joiners Yonas and Anna, and the honourable guest Afsar, who lives 6000 kilometres away from London, but loves GoodGym and always gets involved in many tasks every time he visits his family in Ealing. How amazing is that!

I am delighted to join GoodGym after two years gap and undertake the task at the food cupboard in South Ealing's St Mary Church. It's a wonderful task and to met with Goodgym team. - Raja Muhammad Afsar

Jokes and laughs were not what Sevan was expecting from Ms A as she explained how she ended up asking GoodGym for help. She was very chatty and good humoured as she explained that she'd gone from:

1. Being in the military; to
2. Having a back problem; to
3. Having her spinal cord severed while operating on her back; to
4. Finally, years later, developing a serious brain tumour

Despite those setbacks, Ms A went against the grain and was very positive about her situation. She wanted to make the most of her life rather than resigning herself to being disabled and stuck indoors. She realised that others were much worse off than she was.

Ms A's medical conditions meant that she had trouble moving heavy or bulky items and over time, her trusted neighbours who helped her had moved away. This meant that she didn't have anyone to take bags out to the communal bins as Ms A said that the council didn't offer her any support.

When Sevan arrived, he found 12 bags in the hallway filled with packaging and 6 more filled with food waste in the kitchen. They'd slowly built up over a few months. They were all moved outside the flat while Ms A chatted away about her life, her medical conditions and the history of the local area, having lived around Ealing for most of her life.

Once Sevan managed to stop chatting, moving the bags only really took 15 minutes as he took away a few at a time. When Sevan mentioned that he needed to take some photos for the report, it was another chance for Ms A to crack a joke.

"Oh no, everyone will wonder why I drink so much Actimel!"

Luckily the communal bins were empty, so as Sevan filled one all the way to the top with Ms A's 18 bags. This meant that Ms A's Actimel habit was hidden away in the metal container, unable to be seen by others

Are four GoodGymers enough to let 400 Acton households know about a free community day on The Mount in July in an hour? Certainly! But let's start with some context. Action West London received funding to bring local people together, raise awareness of community safety, and connect residents with organisations that can support their wellbeing. To do so, they organised the community day and needed GoodGym's help to spread the word by posting leaflets through letterboxes.

A group of flyering experts, Conor, Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash, met in Acton near the famed Pokopia Garden to beat the odds and distribute all the leaflets they had received — in 60 minutes or less. Steph and Kash ran from Ealing Broadway, Conor walked to the session, and Sevan even squeezed in an extra evening mission ahead of the group task. What a legend!

For all four, the 3km walking task was exactly what they needed after their workdays to clear their minds. GoodGym took them into a magical world of adventures where, to complete their quest, they had to face a variety of beasts: invisible dogs barking suddenly behind doors, foxes and cats of varying levels of wildness, including tigers and lions. Check the photos if you don't believe me!

The GoodGymers even ventured into space, where Steph handed over leaflets to alien children who were super excited about the prospect of face painting and a bouncy castle at the upcoming event — again, the proof is in the pictures! One hour was enough to get the job done and dusted, and the residents of Derwentwater Rd, Stuart Rd, Newburgh Rd, Chaucer Rd, Spencer Rd, Woodhurst Rd, Shakespeare Rd and Myrtle Rd were informed about the community day — at least those without a "No junk mail" sign on their letterboxes!

If you fancy coming along for a task in Acton on another date, check out one of the fortnightly sessions at the Pokopia Garden. Next Tuesday, we're venturing to Hanger Hill for an evening of citizen science — it's really easy, and anyone can get involved. Check out the session details here.

I joined an extremely busy lunch shift at Ealing Soup Kitchen today. It was Chef Nigel’s first time being in charge in the kitchen - with over one hundred guests - and his meal was a massive hit. There was a paprika chicken dish with rice or vegetarian alternative - and the clients loved it. A shortage of volunteers meant I was moving between serving lunch, clearing tables and helping with the washing up. But it was all worth it to see the smiles and get such positive feedback from the clients 😊

It was great to back at Ealing Soup Kitchen after a couple of months away. There was a large queue when doors opened at 11am and it seemed that everyone wanted a drink. I helped out with the drinks service for a while then went into the kitchen when it got quieter. After their hot drinks, clients moved on to the Snow Cones machine which proved very popular. And of course I had to try it for myself - it was most welcome in a hot kitchen 😊

Not much to report on, I came to see if the Pokopia Garden needed any maintenance but it looks like the plants have been properly maintained. There was no vandalism, litter or dead plants so all is good with Pokopia.