The William Hobbayne Centre is where the magic happens! The wild Burns Night, the fun Quiz Night, and the artsy Christmas Fair - GoodGym Ealing knows all those fantastic community events where Hanwell folk enjoy themselves in the most relaxed atmosphere you can imagine while taking part in fundraising for local causes. We support running those parties, after all! But a different kind of magic happens behind the scenes, or should I say, behind the wall. Tucked behind the centre is an unassuming backyard covered by concrete where the weeds keep growing endlessly. On many occasions, that backyard has been an arena for Ealing GoodGymers to test the weapons of moss destruction: hoes, brushes and even snow shovels! It was no different tonight.

Sue from the Hobbayne Charity welcomed five GoodGymers to the centre and equipped them with tools, gloves and waste bags. We were ready to show the weeds and moss where their place was! A side quest included removing obstructions: moving bricks from the fence to the centre's wall. That task was handled by Freya and Lenka - the latter returning to GoodGym after a few years of hiatus. Great to have you back, Lenka!

Lenka made sure the bricks were cleaned before being stacked again as they were covered in dirt, cobwebs, leaves and snails. The more layers of bricks Freya and Lenka moved, the more wildlife they uncovered: spiders, slugs and even earthworms that must have felt very well in the rotten leaves turned into compost. At the destination, the pristine bricks formed the Great Wall of Hobbayne or the Hanwellian's wall - maybe not as much of a landmark as the Hanwell Viaduct or the Clock Tower, but we were proud of it anyway!

Steph Ducat and Sevan scraped and swept the moss from the ground, accompanied by the sound of violence: the doleful song of a hoe against the concrete. Despite the sun finally coming out in the late afternoon, the snow shovels came in handy - to scoop the waste into the bin bags. In about 45 minutes we were done! If the weather permits, the charity will be able to do a nice send-off for one of their retiring trustees in the back garden.

Next Tuesday we will be supporting the William Hobbayne Charity again - but in their community gardens! We will free as much of the overgrown area as possible to make it accessible again! Sign up now!

Task owner Dee met team GoodGym at Half Acre Field in Hanwell. She was very apologetic as the wheelbarrow that she'd promised to bring to help move logs had gone walkabout. In fact, some of the logs had been stolen too, the "best" ones, according to Dee. Kash, Steph and Sevan were intrigued to see the sub-standard logs that were left for them to move.

"I'm sorry about the wheelbarrow" - Dee
"Are we going downhill?" - Sevan
"Yes" - Dee
"We'll be fine then" - Sevan

And fine, they were. 6 logs were rolled down the hill, then hung a left into an area used by a forest school. The logs were mostly straight, making them easy to guide, though a few were a bit lumpier and needed more steering to not wipe out some recently planted saplings. Despite the fact that the GoodGymers weren't log grading experts, they all seemed like perfectly good logs 👌.

Twenty minutes later, after a natter, the task was complete and the forest school had some new tables and chairs 🪵🪵🪵.

The William Hobbayne Charity looks after Hanwell folk for around 600 years. They raise money to support schools, help those who cannot afford to pay for accommodation, and assist the victims of domestic violence. While the work the charity does is serious, each season Hobbayne brings to the local community something fun and lighthearted. In the early Spring it's usually a fundraising quiz.

Cherian from GoodGym Barnet visited the William Hobbayne Centre for a second time to help Liuba, Sevan and Kash prepare the venue for the quiz and curry night. They started with setting up thr tables. This year's improvements involved new green tablecloths and new ambient lights which made the hall resemble an enchanted forest with glowing mushrooms!

With the first task completed, Sevan started wrapping naan breads in tin foil before heating them up in the oven, and the ladies began wrapping one hundred sets of knives and forks in napkins. Another improvement this year involved moving away from single-use cutlery (obtained by the Charity through donations) in favour of the steel option. Because the metal knives and forks had been most likely donated, almost all of them looked like they had come from a totally different set. That's called dine-versity!

The situation with the plates was quite different.

"You'd be glad to hear this year we have compostable plates" - June
"Did you say 'combustible'?" - Kash

Before taking a break ahead of the second task if the night, Liuba went to procure some ice for the drinks for the event, and Sevan did a shop run for snacks and drinks for toe GoodGymers, sponsored kindly by June from Hobbayne.

After setting up the hall and preparing for food service during an earlier task, team GoodGym were listening to the questions at When tonight's fundraising quiz at the Hobbayne Centre. When the quiz reached its half way point, the GoodGymers put aside their confusion at the quiz questions and strode into action, serving meals to the quizzers.

Curries, either chicken or chickpea, were plated up with rice by Steph and Cherian. Once the warm naan breads were added, they were ready to be delivered. Kash, Liuba and Sevan were calling table orders and taking plates to be served. "2 more chicken for my table", "3 veg for me please". All meals were on tables in record time, allowing the team to quickly eat their own curries before going back into the hall and clearing plates from tables.

The last things to do were to serve choc ices as dessert before they melted, then Kash and Steph boxed up the remaining rice and curries for people to take home. With the food service completed, it was time to chat and to wait until the start of the clean up task.

All great things come to an end and the Quiz night ends up with cleaning up nad putting everything away. Kitchen needed some cleaning and some of the pans needed more attention : dirty old pans!! The rice cooker was spotless, then the pan that had the chicken curry had a shiny spell, but the vegetarian pan needed a great old scrub and soak as very sticky. We also had the impression that drummers were here today : oh no its just Kash playing music with the lids. The crew then put away the tables and chairs in a jiffy. Rubbish put away and all looked as if nothing happened in the main hall or kitchen.

The four GoodGymers: Paul, Liuba, Sevan and Kash, returned to the Hobbayne Centre for the main session of the night: serving. They were joined by Mohamed and Scotswoman Chris. The latter had received a special invite from the charity after trasforming the not-so-Scottish attempts on ceilidh dances into an authentic experience last year.

The guests arrived early, so the Address to the Haggis performance commenced ten minutes ahead of schedule. The man who delivers the act each year recited Burn's poem and fiercely cut the haggis into pieces. The GoodGymers were ready to serve the food and queued in front of the kitchen. This year, their new system worked quite well, with the more popular meaty meals going out first and veggie versions being served on demand. Only the gluten-free options caused some confusion, but everyone got fed (including the servers) in the end, and even seconds were offered - although only vegetarian ones as the carnivore version ran out.

While Chris and Kash kept an eye on the guests finishing their meals to collect the dirty dishes, Paul and Mohamed helped prepare the traditional (at least in theory) Scottish dessert, cranachan. In the meantime, Sevan and Liuba took up the joyful task of pouring the whisky. The guests' devotion to the Scottish culture was tested as the toast was raised only after quite a long, although fascinating, talk about the life and heritage of Robert Burns.

Next in the event programme was the raffle. None of the GoodGymers was as lucky as Sevan last year - the hopes to win a free team pizza at The Green didn't materialise that night.

Finally, the highlight of the night arrived: our indispensable Chris calling the Scottish dances! With the assistance from Sevan and Kash and two ceilidh-savvy ladies from the community, Chris taught the Hanwell folk the steps for Gay Gordons, Dashing White Sergeant and Strip the Willow. With various results regarding the technique, everyone had fun and the ceilidh went even better than last year!

The GoodGymers have been already asked whether they are planning to show up at the Burns Night at Hobbayne in 2026. We think Chris is likely to become the lifelong star of the Burns Night, just like the well-respected performer addressing the haggis each year!