The orchard is a really nice space, away from the hustle and bustle of Ealing Broadway. It's well used by young people and the community. Tonight we put our backs into transporting wood chip from outside the orchard, via shovels and wheelbarrows, into the space to help dry up the muddy patches.

This was a special space for a special occasion - the celebration of Jenni's 500th good deed - yes, that's right, 500 good deeds! Jen is truly the Queen of GoodGym Ealing. And she was straight on the case ordering her crown-encrusted 500 GoodGym t-shirt.

But this was also a celebration tinged with some sadness. Jenni is moving out of the area. We can't tell you how much we'll miss her - she's one of our own. Timing her 500th good deed with her her leaving party was a logistical masterpiece for which we can only congratulate Jenni once again! She promised to visit soon and we'll hold her to that.

Another record-breaking turnout from GoodGym at the Mill Hill Park litterpick! Having six GoodGymers was quite impressive, especially when the community mission collided with the parkrun start time! Some of us, on the way to Acton, met our GoodGym friends heading out to run or volunteer at the Gunnersbury parkrun.

We were wondering if there would be enough litter for all of us but Elisabeth from Acton Litter Collective was very happy with our numbers because many of the 9 am regulars were away that week. She brought us additional litterpickers, welcomed new joiners, and tried to remember all the names.

We split into pairs and headed out into Acton backstreets to search for more interesting finds than the ubiquitous cigarette butts. We came back with artifacts from our not so distant past, from school accessories to technology from late 20th century.

Notable findings:

• Bike computer
• Sexual Healing CD case
• 3/4 of a VHS cassette
• J keyboard key
• Set square & ruler
• Sports shoes
• Dogs demanding treats
• A snail colony

When GoodGymers from Ealing found out about the weekend community clean-up in Southall's Western Road Urban Garden, they were excited about the first day of the event, but no one seemed to be able to come on the second day. After five of us attended the big Saturday clean up, everything changed. We returned on Sunday for more samosas (I mean: digging the soil! 😅) and in greater numbers! We had five Ealing folks and Tabitha from GoodGym Brighton, who was the force behind the endeavour. Tabitha told us about the event in the first place. Without her, the fantastic collab between GoodGym Ealing and the Southall Community Alliance wouldn't happen! She deserves two good deeds for that - give her a cheer! 👏

Apart from yesterday's gang: Harvey, Sevan, Milly and Kash, we welcomed one of the Ealing legends, Bryon, who visited the urban garden for the first time. There were also more familiar faces that we met the previous day. While the new volunteers were going through their health & safety briefing, most of us were ready to pick up our tools and get straight to work (or pick up the pakoras and then get to work! 😜).

On Saturday, Janpal from the SCA had promised us that Sunday would be about enjoying the milder weather and planting trees. That was true, yet there was digging work still to be done. The mattocks (it is that thing you may call a pickaxe but the part you use for hitting is flatter in a mattock) went into action again. We crashed the rocks and smashed the glass and tiles hidden under the soil. The amount of 30-year-old rubbish we kept digging out seemed infinite. Milly diligently was sifting through the heaps of antiques we discovered, separating glass from rusty metal, rocks from roots, and plush ducks from plastic bunnies.

Time flies while you are having fun! It was nearly 1 pm when we decided we have done enough with mattocks and forks to remove the debris and prepare the soil for tree planting. It was the time for our favourite snacks, tea or coffee, and a chat with our new volunteer friends. Milly was not among those who ran straight to the delicious fritters 😋, but accompanied Mani from Southall Transition in putting out the tree plugs.

After the break, Mani gave us instructions with a demo on how to plant a tree 🌱. It looked simple. The reality had lots of surprises for us! We were supposed to dig the soil for the whole depth of a spade's blade, but after getting just halfway there, we kept hitting rocks, bricks or metal rods. We had to repeat the exercise of digging out the waste again! GoodGymers don't get easily discouraged and always welcome a good workout, so we removed the obstacles and put the trees where they belonged. The next stage was mulching (something the Ealing crew are experts in!) and watering the new trees (the real-life farmer's walk workout).

The session finished with group photos and the last chance to grab refreshments before heading off. While saying our goodbyes, we looked at the sky and caught sight of the famous Jeffrey the Red Kite 🪶. He was on his way to spreading the news about the brilliant work in the Western Road Community Garden across the whole borough.