The Comboni Centre for Spirituality and Mission

To offer a sacred quiet space in the centre of West London open to all
The Centre is run by 2 Catholic nuns. A number and activities are held at the centre, including couples counselling, one on a one spiritual meetings, prayer meetings and various events.

16 GoodGymers have supported The Comboni Centre for Spirituality and Mission with 2 tasks.


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Hounslow runner
Hounslow runner

Previous sessions
HounslowGroup run
+5
Madeleine
Leticia Bessel
Harvey Gallagher

Second to nun

Wednesday 7th February

Written by Anastasia Hancock (she/her)

It was a quiet, more mindful task last night in Hounslow as ten of us ran to the Comboni centre for Spirituality for our Wednesday group run. We had an enthusiastic welcome from the incomparable Sister Natalia, who explained all the jobs to be done.

While one half of the team tackled the weeding, edging, pruning and tidying at the front of the centre, the second group were taken round to the back of the building and got started on various tasks.

There was plenty of weeding to be done, and also the small matter of two very large pots to be moved from the back of the building to the kitchen, where Sr Natalie hopes to grow herbs. It seemed simple enough, but when Chris and Emily tried to lift them, they quickly realised that there was no lip to hold onto. After some consideration, the pair created an effective rolling system which - after a bit of practice - worked a treat!

As this is a spiritual place, we were careful to keep noise to a minimum within the garden, and concentrated on the work itself. before we knew it, 45 minute was up and it was time to leave, but not before a group photo - with Sr Natalie in pride of place of course!

We took a speedy run back to the Town Hall and found a spot for a short leg blast. With five minutes, eight exercises, and no breaks, it was intense but effective, especially with the dreaded squat finisher!

Next week instead of a group run we will be doing a Wednesday community mission helping out at Gunnersbury park, so meet Chris and Tish at the North Lodge in Gunnersbury park at 18:45 for a spot of Valentine's bramble bashing!

We also have two missions coming up which need a few pairs of helping hands. Could you spare an hour to help litter pick at Manor Gardens allotments on the 18th?. There is also a fun session to shovel horse manure with Cultivate at the riding school on the 24th. Happy GoodGyming everybody!

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HounslowGroup run
+7
Pippa ALeticia BesselJonathanSevanKash

All bar nun

Wednesday 18th October 2023

Written by Anastasia Hancock (she/her)

It was a holy satisfying task last night as we headed to a new task location - the Comboni centre for spirituality.

On the plus side, it was brilliant to finally be able to celebrate Florian reaching that first magic milestone -50 good deeds! A huge well done Florian, well done for all that Wednesday night hard graft and weekends spent planting, litter picking and helping out at parkrun. You're a GG hero!

On the less positive side, the rain that had been pelting down all afternoon was showing no signs of stopping, and it was set to be a very damp task. We united as a group at the centre, which is run by the Comboni order of nuns. It is a sacred quiet space in Chiswick which is open to all to experience prayer and to put love into action by reaching out to the poor and needy. We were met by the brilliant Sister Natalia, who greeted us with a very apt quote from their patron saint - ""Night and day, sun and rain, will find me equally and always ready to help in your spiritual needs".

Sister Natalia led us around the peaceful garden to let us know exactly what had to be done. There were plenty of weeds, but we were under strict instructions not to touch the rhubarb, as the Sisters enjoy it with custard.

The team got stuck in to all the various patches, soon filling up bag after bag of weeds. Meanwhile, I was hearing all about Sister Natalia's stints around the world in places like South Sudan, the DRC and Uganda, where she slept on the jungle floor and experienced civil war - pointing out that after all that she was not going to be put off by the increasingly heavy rain! She also invited all GGers to come to her special service on Sunday where she will celebrate 50 years in the order.

After a good session in the garden the rain was getting worse, so we decided to call it a night and head to the pub to celebrate Florian's 50th good deed with an absolutely amazing cake!

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