On a sunny Sunday morning, six GoodGymers showed up at Acton Park to help run director Geoff and the regular junior parkrun volunteers make the event run smoothly.

Alan and Chris kept an eye on the time as timekeepers. Maria, Sevan and Steph Ducat secured the course from their marshal positions and cheered the children like there was no tomorrow. They also gave out high-fives generously.

"See that guy there? You need to give him a high-five. He's really big on high-fives! Let's go!" – Dad to his son, running towards Sevan.

For Steph, safety was as important as fun, so he swept the slippery leaves from the path at a corner near his marshal spot. It was enough to keep the kids stable on that stretch, but three of the young runners fell at some point on the route to the finish line.

One of the children who fell was a boy who had just turned four – the minimum age to officially run junior parkrun. He didn't utter a word of complaint, but got up quickly and continued his enthusiastic interval run, full of joyous sprints along the way. Thanks to his dad's pep talk, which went beyond the simple promises of hot chocolate and the playground, and the cheers from the marshals, the junior successfully completed his first parkrun, running to the finish alongside fox-tailed tailwalker Kash. That's the spirit!

Sign up for the next Action juniors Sunday here!

Melissa and Alan arrived muscles-ready to move a bed and a wardrobe to allow building repairs to take place in one of Ms C's rooms. On arrival though, it was clear that this would not be so straightforward: the wardrobes were full of clothes and the bed piled high with miscellaneous items. And there was no free space in Ms C's flat to move things to.

Undeterred, the GoodGym duo took a key first step by helping clear out the wardrobes. While Ms C was keen to keep most of her extensive clothing collection, a few bags were designated for recycling or charity shops.

Ms C was delighted to have made a start on the clearance work.

Having shopped for Mr G many times, I pride myself on being able to gather his items without needing to refer to the (very helpful) set of labels he provides.

Today, I was just about to press "Finish and pay" at the checkout when I remembered he'd asked me to add a Chicken Korma to the list. A brisk (but careful) jog across the store and I was able to grab one and get back to the checkout before the store attendant was alerted to intervene.

Mr G's other two chicken products were not in stock, necessitating close substitutions, but Mr G was grateful as ever for the GoodGym support in getting his food supplies for the week.