After a week of cascading prices, TRAID in Kilburn's sale ended on Tuesday night so we went along to help the staff and other volunteers close it out.

Now the sale is over, the stock has to go back to TRAID's warehouse, where it will be kept until next year when it's back in season, and sent out to a different branch.

With experience of a few different TRAID sales between us, there are different methods by branch. On this occasion, our brief was to fold the goods, or at least lie them flat in the boxes such that they'd fit a bit more efficiently. Amongst our 'fold medallists,' we were lucky to have help from TRAID Community Mission veteran Emily, and Analiese over from Hammersmith& Fulham GG, thanks for visiting!! 🤝

With 10 or so pairs of hands on the job, it took a little over an hour for us to get 3 big boxes of clothes filled, just in time for the drivers from TRAID to arrive and take them away on the wagon.

Thanks for coming team, and to Kat and Emily for some puns. 🙏

TRAID are an awesome charity that help prevent clothes from being thrown away, and turn them into funds and resources to help reduce the environmental and social impacts of our clothes. There are TRAID stores all over London, and GoodGym are pivotal in helping out with their quarterly store restocks. You could say this was a well traid and tested mission!

Four valiant GoodGymmers came to Westminster to lend eight hands at the Westbourne Grove TRAID, and we got on to the task straight away. Part one of this mission was to clear all the clothes from the racks and move them into big blue sacks. An easy enough job if you do it right! Through experience, each TRAID store has their own unique method of clearing the gear. Hammersmith TRAID like it off the hangers, and piled into boxes. The Shepherd’s Bush store prefer on the hangers but folded into metal cages. Well, the Westbourne Grove team showed us their favoured technique: four hangers of clothes, wrapped up around the hanger and then into a big blue bag. Like I said, easy. The GoodGymmers set to it, following the Westbourne Grove guidelines: filling up sacks and throwing them onto the pile ready to make friends at a new store.

In possibly record time, the racks were bare and had been replaced with a ginormous pile of blue bags to the front of the store. Part one completed, it was time to move into part two. This bit involved the most efficient human chain I have ever been a part of. GoodGym and store employees alike lined up from the basement, up the stairs and to a pile for the menswear (already bagged up) to be started. In almost clockwork fashion, the bags were passed along from Amy to Lucy to Emily and finally Danny who started the second sack mountain. The bags were practically jumping between us, and it wasn’t long before there were just a final few items needing moving back upstairs (a few headless mannequins, some interesting heeled converse and a ‘BBQ style ampersand’).

Mission complete, and it was hardly even 6:30! The store employees were super impressed with our efficiency. GoodGym never goes out of style!

Autumn appeared to be arriving in Hounslow. The leaves (already prematurely shedding from the long dry summer) were shades of orange, the evenings drawing darker again and a distinct smell of pumpkin spice in the air. But GoodGym work hard all year round, so this didn’t make much of a difference to the eight heroes out last night.

The task for the evening was with our dear friends at Cultivate London, and we were asked to help at one of the local schools with leaf clearing and litter picking. On paper, this was a group run, and Tish led her army (aka Chris) to the school to meet the rest of the gang who had arrived on two wheels. We were met by Romina, who supplied us with rakes, spades and a glut of black sacks and we got going.

Chris and Emily started on little pick duties, which left Tish, Jon and myself to start on the leaves that had been swept into a humongous pile beneath the trees. Michelle, Jonathan and Divy also joined during the task, and the eight of us along with Romina were busy bagging up.

We discussed some of the weeks big topics (RIP your Majesty), including the debate about the Met Office ‘cancelling the weather’ and whether anyone would be joining the queue to see the Queen lying in state. Jon also casually mentioned it was his birthday. Unbe-leaf-ably, he decided the best way to spend his 70th birthday was in a school raking soggy leaves. Happy birthday you good man!

Before we knew it, the light was fading, and the leaves had been moved from a golden carpet beneath the trees to an impressive pile of large black bags. Job completed, we helped move said bags to the recycling corner for Romina, said our goodbyes and sacked off the task to head off for part two of the evening activities.

Team Chrish set off on their run, and the rest of us in convey on bicycle. There was a delay at the level crossing, which allowed the runners to catch up with the cyclists… and then overtake as they decided to go ‘the long way’. As the level crossing stayed down, the cycle group numbers diminished until it was just me obstinate enough to wait it out for over 12 minutes. By the time I arrived at the pub, everyone had ordered drinks and started on their prawn crackers!

We were joined by Remy at the pub, and celebrated Jon’s big birthday with a fantastic chocolate malt cake courtesy of Michelle ‘Mary Berry’ Grimley. Another successful GoodGym Hounslow Wednesday comp-leaf-ted.