The final round of the annual Hobbayne Quiz was in sight and the GoodGym team's strongest dishwashers were substituted into action to help bring order to the kitchen. Madiha and Afsar joined the team, bringing their ceramic scrubing prowess to join forces with Divya.

There was an ongoing struggle to keep the dirty dishes in check as 90-odd of them flowed into the kitchen and piled up on the counters. The dishwasher was loaded, then Kash initially started hand washing while the others took up the offer of chicken or chickpea curry. Once they were powered back up, the whole team went to soak, scrub and dry normal sized plates and commercial sized cookware. Always the most fun part of the night.

While the scrubbing dream team continued hand washing and reloading the dishwasher, Kash, Penny and Sevan were dispatched on the down low to clear the tables of any rubbish.

Then another clandestine task, to find good homes for portions of leftover chickpea curry, as there wasn't enough for everyone to have seconds. Individual tables were asked and had takeaway containers delivered to them. The foil containers were spotted though by sharp eyed people from other tables, who waved to ask about the possibility of left overs too.

Soon, the results of the quiz were announced and the evening started to wrap up. A final sweep was made for rubbish, with the guests helping to clear their tables. All that was left to do was fold up the tables, stack the chairs and pack away the tuck shop.

The organisers went home happy that everyone had had a great evening and no food had been wasted. The GoodGym team had contributed to both of those achievements, including by taking home their own shiny packages of curry for tomorrow's lunch or dinner.

The annual fundraising quiz at the William Hobbayne Centre is a fun get-together for the local community in Hanwell, where all the funds raised support some fantastic outdoor projects like the Forest School and HANGOT. As usual, the Ealing GoodGymers have been invited to help make the night wonderful for all the guests.

When Kash arrived at the centre, she found the only survivor of the setup task, Sevan, alongside Madhan, tearing and folding hundreds of raffle tickets. It's been a real crunch time to get them ready on time but everyone had fun trying to make it.

It was a quiz night, and when the GoodGymers made an appearance in the main hall, the only question they were asking was:

"How many veggie and chicken options at this table?"

Madhan, Sevan and Kash were scrambling to get the plates with the ordered food to the guests while Divya was employed to fluff the rice and Penny was embellishing each dish with naan bread. Tonight's menu had a chicken curry or chickpea and lentil curry. The guests' preferences between meat and vegetarian choices were not exactly balanced.

"Two veggie and five chicken please" - said Sevan at the door of the kitchen.

"I am waiting for two chicken meals" - said Kash.

"I have eleven chicken orders" - announced Madhan.

Two vegetarian plates were waiting for a few minutes for some attention. Eventually, Mandy, the vegetarian chef, decided to put them into the oven for the time being. Then, Madhan took one of those plates. Finally, some interest in chickpeas and lentils!

"Seventeen chicken for me!" - said Madhan, coming back after delivering the veggie order.

After the meal - which was also offered to our volunteers - it was time for the raffle. The GoodGymers have received three stripes of tickets each. Sevan had the honour of drawing a ticket for one of the winners. But that's not all! He also won the last prize in the raffle - a glittery bracelet! We cannot wait to see him wearing it at the next task!

Steph Ducat, Ijo and Sevan were raring to go to set up for the Hobbayne Charity's annual quiz. There were some tasks they were expecting, like setting up the tables and wrapping up the cutlery. Others were new to them, as Ijo found when she was asked to steam the tablecloths as they'd come out of a box looking very crinkled.

Steph and Sevan worked with the task owner, June, on the maths of configuring tables and chairs. "Nine, six, six, no, that table's a five, eight", went the calls. They made sure that all the expected people had a chair and somewhere to eat their curry.

Steph and Sevan moved on to wrapping cutlery for the attendees and getting the crockery in the kitchen ready for plating. As everything was ready ahead of time, at front of house, Ijo ran the tuck shop as the guests started to arrive.

Everyone's tapping their foot and there seems to be no stop for dancing around. The music switched from Scottish classics to party mode and newer tunes started playing.

Chris needed the well-deserved break after orchestrating the dance earlier. Kash and Sevan went to the corner shop to quench their thirst. Steph, Cherian and I were enjoying the dance. The cleanup task was planned for 10:15 pm -11:15 pm. Cherian left around 10:30 pm after doing back-to-back community missions from the morning.

We all waited for the dance party to stop so that we could start cleaning things up.

Chris said let's take out all the empty bottles from the tables while we are waiting. After a few minutes, most empty bottles were taken care of and binned. We then went back to waiting mode.

Kash was saying the report would be

We waited, we waited, we waited and then we left

I haven't checked the time for quite a while. It was 11:20 pm when I heard And now my bedsheets smell like you... playing in the speakers. I realized I needed to get under my bedsheets soon, as the tiredness hit me then.

Kash then went to June and said we had to leave and agreed to clean up what we could in the next 15 minutes. Chairs were stacked, tables were folded and all the goodgymers were moving around and clearing things up.

We left the William Hobbayne centre with some takeaway haggis 10 minutes short of midnight.

The setup phase of Burns Night at Hobbayne Centre 2024 edition was a condensed one, compared to last year's. Because of a different event earlier in the day, the organisers had only two hours to get the hall ready! With Madhan, Sevan, Kash and Cherian from GoodGym, the impossible became possible.

With the help of the Bunting Director Sevan, Cherian and Kash hung the strings of tartan decor upstairs, while Madhan put the stag head against the wall. The tables were already unfolded, so all we had to do was arrange them to mimic the pictures of last year's setup. We then rolled out the dispensable tablecloth and paper table runners with a tartan pattern.

We stayed at the centre a bit longer to get ahead of time and prepare the cutlery, again, dispensable. In the kitchen, we found some hidden contraband: plastic knives, forks and spoons. They have been donated to the Hobbayne Charity while they were still legal goods. With the philosophy use it or lose it in mind, we wrapped them in napkins and put them on the tables. It was time to take a break and regroup before the second session in the evening: serving haggis!

Food service started with Gymeroo running 2 servings of haggis to a nearby elderly couple. Meanwhile, back at Burns Central, the rest of the FoodGym crew were pouring shots and preparing desserts.

As the Address to the Haggis approached, the FoodGymers handed out shots of whisky, prepared their serving plates and put their dancing shoes on. Once the appreciation of the haggis had been voiced and the haggis sliced open, it was time to start taking orders. "Meaty or veggie?" echoed around the hall with answers noted down. When Gymeroo tried to deliver the orders, they found - as always - that people had changed their minds and their plates had to be redirected to other bellies.

Second helpings were served and devoured, followed by the cranachan, lovingly created by FoodGym hands. Cherian and Madhan had added the first layer of oats and syrup, while Chris had spent what seemed like hours whipping up cream for Kash to layer on top of the oats. Finally, Steph Ducat and Kash topped the dish with raspberries and then, it was ready to serve.

As the time came for FoodGym and Gymeroo to put their feet up, GoodShym-ie arrived. Traditionally at this point in the night, tables are removed and some vaguely Scottish ceilidh dancing ensues. This year however, the ceilidh caller (the person who describes the steps) injured themselves earlier in the day. Our own true Scots woman, Chris McCosh, bravely stepped up, took the mic and tried to explain to people who were 3 beers/proseccos down how to Strip the Willow 💃. Sevan and Kash, who were beer-free and had some ceilidh experience were asked to step up and demo too, while Cherian, Madhan and Steph looked on either amused or confused.

After all the excitement and action, all that was left to do was to nibble snacks and wait for the clean up operation to begin.