Anastasia Hancock

GoodGym Hounslow

HounslowGroup run
+13
Emily OldfieldIjo TLuisAugustin Lagarde
Sevan

Rake it to make it

Wednesday 27th March

Written by Anastasia Hancock (she/her)

It was a night of hellos, farewells and celebrations last night at GoodGym Hounslow!

First off we welcomed Gus to his first session - so great to have you join us. Sadly we also learned that it was to be Maddy's last session with us (for now) as she's returning to sunnier lands. We'll miss you Maddy, send us an invite when you get GoodGym Brisbane off the ground!

We were also bidding a sad goodbye to Pippa, who is off to join GoodGym Brighton, but not before she made a perfectly timed exit with her 100th good deed. Great to see you'll be taking your wings tshirt with you, and come back and visit soon!

With so much going on we had a big group for the evening, which was just as well as we had a big task to match! After a warm up we set off for Gunnersbury park, where we were helping the wardens there clear some areas where brambles had been cut down to make way for grass and trees.

We soon claimed our fleet of wheelbarrow, donned the thick gloves provided to deal with the spiky brambles, and headed off into the dark to find our job for the evening.

The machines the park had used to clear the areas had left loads of cut brambles which they had asked us to tidy up, so we set to it. Talking about the races of the past weekend (well done Harvey, Alan and Steph!) we filled ton bags full of debris, only pausing to gently move a giant bumble bee who had made a home in it.

After a good stint we moved all the bags over to the path and made our way back to base. I've already had an email from the park warden Lizzy thanking the team for your hard work, so well done for all the efforts.

Next week we have a new task helping to tidy up a community centre's outside space. Hope to see you there!

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HounslowCommunity mission
MichelleShyam Lakhani

Lunchtime shift at Hounslow Foodbox

Tuesday 26th March

Written by Michelle

Following a full briefing from Volunteer Coordintaor Teresa, Shyam and Michelle helped with weighing sugar, coffee and lentils before making up food parcels.

We had a good chat whilst working and 2 hours flew by!

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HounslowMission
Kash

May I Have Your Tension, Please?

Sunday 24th March

Written by Kash

Mr K loves gadgets and sports equipment. Among his latest Amazon purchases were an air fryer (apparently speeding up the cooking process by a third) and an exercise bike. Mr K had a really good deal when buying the latter, just because it came in boring monochrome: black and grey. The colours meant nothing to Mr K anyway - not because of his sense of aesthetics... He was blind.

Because he couldn't see, Mr K needed help with constructing his new bike. He recently managed to assemble a table himself but spent ages figuring out how to do it without instructions and seeing what the table should look like, not to mention searching for the washers he dropped on the floor. Mr K had a history of GoodGymers assembling his old exercise bikes and cross-trainers, so he knew who to reach out to!

Kash signed up for the task as it resonated with her. She doesn't like when people are denied keeping fit and healthy just because they are injured, don't have the right gear, or their condition prevents them from building their equipment.

Mr K knew GoodGym longer than Kash - about four years - and was very interested in GoodGym runs and missions. He was also curious about parkrun as he used to run himself. Kash told him about guide running and an event in Bushy Park with lots of VI's, but Mr K said he had developed knee issues and his running days were over. But not the cycling days! Mr K has a tandem and rides with his friends even as far as Surrey.

While chatting with Mr K about her experiences with autonomous hoovers (another gadget Mr K was checking out) and how helpful Alexa is for him in daily tasks, Kash unpacked the exercise bike and checked whether all parts were in the box. She took her time assembling them, following the instructions, as she didn't want to undo previous steps. She talked through what she was doing to give Mr K a sense of observing the progress. The most tricky part was connecting a tension wire, and Kash asked Mr K to lend her an adjustable spanner to loosen the mechanism before attaching it.

Finally, the bike looked complete and stable, so Kash tried it out. The resistance adjustment knob worked, so the tension cord must have been attached properly. Phew! Kash asked Mr K to test the bike himself and then changed the handlebar angle to a more comfortable position for him. It was perfect. Another successful sports equipment assembly project for the GoodGym x Mr K portfolio!

Mr K is a lovely chap, and Kash would love to come again to help him - hopefully not to build a bike as that would mean the old one has fallen apart. Mr K was curious about how the shopping missions work, so maybe he will request a GoodGym delivery soon!

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HounslowMission
StephDucat

Grass for 2 or is it 2 for 1

Sunday 24th March

Written by StephDucat

Sunday afternoon mission for Mr N and his wife welcomed me to lead me to the back garden. The massive back garden was overtaken by weed and long grass. Mr N wife looks after him and needed help with the garden. She asked me to cut the grass, but said don't worry if you don't have enough time as massive garden. The electric mower was taken out of the shed and battery inserted. 40 minutes into cutting the overgrown and wet grass the mower stopped....battery was at 1%. Oups !!!Went to see Mr N's wife and what is better than another battery ? A second mower which is with a power lead. 2 for 1 and the mowing started again. Cut the edges of the grass around the slabs that lead to the shed too. Mr N's wife was super happy with the grass cut as she did not expect me to cut it all from the terrace to the green house. Put all the tools and both mowers back in the green house. Emptied all the grass into the wheely bin so that Mrs N could just have it ready for collection.

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HounslowMission
JP

Jack Bleacher

Saturday 23rd March

Written by JP

A regular shop for Mr K, with the usual list, this time including 2 bottles of bleach!

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HounslowGroup run
+3
Alan ArmstrongIjo TLuisStephDucat
Lucy Hill

De-fence-ive action

Wednesday 20th March

Written by Anastasia Hancock (she/her)

With spring in the air and a spring in our step, we headed off for our task for the evening at Strand-on-the-Green school.

It was great to have Ijo along for her first session in Hounslow, welcome! Also fantastic to hear all the news of the exciting events coming up as we ran along. From Alan and Stef taking on the Queen of the Suburbs challenge this weekend, Florian getting ready for the Kew Half next weekend, and all those training for the Paris marathon, there is so much going on. Well done on all that training, it takes a lot and you should all be proud of yourselves.

We arrived at our task and I could tell everybody settled in for the usual fight with the gate. Somehow, however, we got in first time! Maybe our run of bad luck with keys and locks is finally over?

We quickly found the barrow of tools left for us to complete the job, which was to remove ivy from the back fence along the wall. First we had to identify the problem areas using the photos we had been sent, and having cracked that we divided up into teams and began de-ivying. It was satisfying work as it came off pretty easily, but the challenge came when we had to stuff it into the flimsy bags. However, a bit of elbow grease, perseverance and experience soon meant we had most of it tidied away.

That left us just enough time for our fitness session which involved some cards, a stopwatch and more power squats that you could shake a stick at. Great work everybody.

After a nice steady run back we finished the night with stretches and a debate over which pub to head to now that the regular has shut for a very inconsiderate refurb. Next week we're off to Gunnersbury park, hope to see you there!

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