It was a warm welcome to Tom, joining us for his very first GoodGym Hounslow session! Great to have you along, Tom — and hope to see you at many more!

We also had something else to celebrate - A huge well done to Breda, who has now clocked up an incredible 50 Good Deeds! 🎉 That is an amazing show of commitment and a brilliant positive impact on the community. And through all those good deeds, Breda is always there with a smile on her face. Congratulations, Breda — 50 Good Deeds is something to be very proud of! 👏

Last night we were back at Chiswick House, where the gardens are definitely feeling the effects of the dry spell. The trees are looking distressed and shedding their leaves, so our main mission for the evening was weeding, watering and more watering. The camellias - a popular attraction for visitors - in particular needed some TLC to make sure their bulbs don’t flower too early.

So we got to work tackling the drought, hauling heavy watering cans around the gardens and making several rounds to give the plants a much-needed drink. Full of water, they doubled up as a great workout — plenty of lifting, carrying and walking to keep the arms and legs working.

And because no GoodGym session is complete without a little extra opportunity for fitness, we squeezed in a squat challenge during a short break. Just what everyone needed between rounds of watering!

Once the plants had been thoroughly hydrated, we turned our attention to the weeds. We battled our way through alkanet and bindweed, before getting the rakes out to tackle the dry fallen leaves. Rather than simply clearing them away, we redistributed them around the beds so they could do their bit as natural mulch, helping the soil retain precious moisture.

With the gardening jobs complete, it was time for our final feat of endurance: a five-minute plank! We mixed things up with different plank variations, and gave our cores a good all round session. 💪

Next week I'm just waiting for the task to be confirmed,so watch this space (and look out for my weekly email which will have all the details). Hopefully see you at the next one! 💚

We have an exciting opportunity this Sunday to get out on the river on a paddleboard to help clear litter. You can see all the details and sign up here

Finally, good luck to all those racing the Big Half this weekend!

Another great GoodGym Hounslow session happened last night, with plenty to celebrate and two important community tasks helping local green spaces recover after the drought.

🎉 Celebrations all round

A huge congratulations to Maxime on his 100th Good Deed! That is a fantastic milestone and a testament to the time, energy and commitment he has put into helping others in the community. Reaching 100 good deeds means 100 occasions of turning up, getting stuck in and making a tangible difference — one task, one neighbour and one community space at a time. What an achievement!

We also gave a warm GoodGym welcome to David, who joined us for his very first session. It was great to have him along, and we hope this is the first of many GoodGym adventures.

💦 Watering after the drought

With our local green spaces needing some extra care following the drought, we split into two groups for two very worthwhile watering tasks. One group headed to Abundance in Chiswick, helping to water their community growing spaces. Organisations like Abundance do so much to bring people together around food, nature and sustainable local communities, so helping to keep their plants healthy is a small but important way of supporting that work.

The other group headed to Wild Chiswick’s allotments, where there was plenty to keep us busy watering plants that had been through a tough spell of dry weather. Wild Chiswick helps protect and nurture local biodiversity while keeping valuable community growing spaces thriving. We even had a curious fox was keeping watch over proceedings! 🦊

🤝 Reuniting!

We decided to skip the usual workout in the interests of bringing the groups back together and spending more time as one team. Neither group was short of a workout, though. At Turnham Green, the watering crew had to carry heavy watering cans all the way across the Green from the rockery — definitely enough functional fitness to make up for skipping the usual fitness! Next week, we’re back to normal with our session at Chiswick House — workout included!

A big well done to everyone. From 100 good deeds to a first session, and everything between and beyond, it was another great night of doing good together. 💚

GoodGymers took a stroll through the deep dark wood.
Elsa saw them and GoodGymers looked good.

Elsa, from Friends of Horsenden Hill, knew the fearless 14 GoodGymers who arrived at Horsenden Farm on a sunny Saturday were the only team large and brave enough to work so close to where the Gruffalo lurked in the woods behind the farmhouse.

First, she asked Gus, Steph Ducat and Richard to gather the timber stacked beside the farmhouse and reinforce the dead hedge. A sturdy barrier against the hungry Gruffalo, perhaps?

Next, Elsa sent Afshin, Iram and Kash to wheelbarrow a mountain of green waste - rotting onion tops, spoiled peppers, pattypan squash and potatoes - to a spot near the canoe club. Was this a cunning plan to tempt the Gruffalo towards the canal instead of the farm?

Finally, Elsa recruited Andrew, Breda, Emma, Harvey, Melissa, Penny, Scott and Sevan for an enormous weeding job, hoeing and scraping the grass and weeds from the path leading to the Gruffalo's lair. Surely she wasn't making it easier to spot the monster's turned-out toes? Not at all. By clearing away the soft carpet of greenery, she'd ensured that if the Gruffalo sneaked in to steal the pigs, the scrape of his terrible claws against the hard, dry ground would give him away long before he reached the farm.

With the farm secured from its fearsome woodland neighbour, the GoodGymers, led by Elsa's trusty dog Archie, headed through the deep dark wood, following the heavenly aroma of Horsenden's famous pizza. Then, suddenly, they stumbled upon... the Gruffalo!

"Here's my favourite food!" the Gruffalo said. '"GoodGymer crumble!"

But one sniff of the pizza wafting through the woods changed his mind. By the time he reached the farm, there wasn't a slice left. The well-fed GoodGymers simply strolled past the Gruffalo's lair on their way to their second task at the top of Horsenden Hill, leaving the poor monster to rummage through the pile of green waste by the canal in search of a few scraps of rotten onion.

A mega turnout for GoodGym Hounslow on Wednesday evening - clearly everyone was very excited for Lucy to lead the group run! Or maybe something else was bumping up the numbers?

Welcoming the group, including John and Jacqueline from Camden who were visiting, we warmed up (not that we needed it with the heatwave), and made our way to Strand on The Green School. Claire from the school had a quartet of tasks lined up for our masse of GoodGymmers, and under Lucy’s leadership, the group split into four to take on each of the jobs.

Emily & Eloise were joined by Michelle and Leticia to touch up the paint job around the picket fencing on the children’s playground, but also a good excuse for a catch up over brush strokes, as Tish was back visiting from the far South West. Once a Hounslow GoodGymmer, always a Hounslow GoodGymmer!

The second group were made up of four of the biggest, bravest and strongest of the gang: Jonathan, Kash, Ariane and Augustin. They stepped up to the challenge of moving heavy and bulky wooden blocks and boards up the winding stairs and to one of the outdoor classrooms upstairs. A couple of ‘pivot PIVOT’s later, and some flexing from Kash (she’s a MACHINE), the goods were moved from A to B.

Group three were team weeding; clearing the overgrowth around the sides of the paths, which was made all the nicer by being perfectly in the golden hour sunlight. Kymm, John, Jacqueline and Maxime got to it, whilst the final group with the rest of the rapscallions made their way back to the entrance gates to take on some overgrown bushes. Chris, Matt, Steph Ducat, Alan, Breda, Jon and Florian armed themselves with choppers, before being joined by Bethan and Divya with brooms and tarpaulin, and started to attack the out of control shrubbery and move the cuttings into the waste skip.

With such bumper numbers, we smashed the tasks out the bag tonight. There was even some time for games (Matt had found a cow whilst bush bashing, and Steph almost a complete building bricks set!), and more importantly a fashion show from our very stylish Gus. He proved that sometimes fashion is fast, when you’re as efficient at completing good deeds as him.

We tidied up, took a group snap and Claire waved us off into the sunset to make our way back to the Town Hall. Once we’d had a cool down, it was off to the Packhorse for a very special post-task pub session.

Our fantastic turn out might have had something to do with the fact that we had Emily & Eloise helping out, and for Emily, it will be her last official good deed for a while, as she is due to have a baby girl next week! Eloise (& I should say Matt too!) are following suit with their little bundle of joy coming in September.

In true GoodGym Hounslow style, we wanted to give our Mumma’s to be a proper send off. So much so that even friends that couldn’t make the task had come for the celebrations! GoodGymmers are known for doing good and getting fit, but we decided to add a dash of creative flair into the mix. A handful of the gang had been squirrelling around, and meeting up to learn how to knit (or in Remy’s case, take out her emotions onto 23 little crocheted squares). Holly had led our contrive, and had somehow made all our little stitched squares into two beautiful baby blankets for the impending arrivals.

Presenting the soon-to-be parents with home made gifts really did show us what GoodGym is all about. The community, the friendships, and of course, the cake (deliciously made by Michelle).

Emily - we all wish you the best with the future and your new little bundle of joy. Eloise & Matt - we will see you next week at GoodGym, where Steph is leading our task to Harvard Hill! We can’t wait to meet the newest members of our GoodGym family.

This week we headed back to the beautiful grounds of Chiswick House, where we visit regularly to keep this historic green space looking its best. It helps keep the gardens and grounds free for everyone to enjoy, and it is always rewarding to know that an hour or so of work has a lasting impact on a community space.

A special welcome to Emma, who joined us for her very first GoodGym Hounslow session! Great to have you join us.

After a warm up and a quick run, we met up with the rest of the group, grabbed our tools and got straight to work on two important conservation tasks.

Our first job was tackling epicormic growth—the shoots that sprout from the trunks and lower branches of trees. While these shoots are a natural response to stress, they divert energy away from the healthy canopy and can affect the tree's long-term health. Removing them helps put energy where it's needed most.

Our second task was trimming back the browse line—the lower branches that create a neat line beneath the tree canopy. The name comes from the height at which deer naturally browse leaves in woodland. Maintaining this browse line improves visibility and allows more light to reach the ground, supporting a greater variety of plants and wildlife.

As always, there was plenty of conversation while we worked. Topics ranged from upcoming races and ambitious cycling adventures to remarkable hospital coincidences and plenty of plans for future events. Time flies when you're catching up with good company!

With an impressive number of trees tended to, we headed over to the estate yard for fitness. Tonight it was Tabata - a high-intensity interval workout consisting of short bursts of hard work followed by brief recovery periods. It's fast, energetic and efficient. There were plenty of laughs, lots of determination, and some truly impressive squats on display!

Next week we're off to help at a local school. Hope to see lots of you there! Sign up here for all the details