The GoodGym Ealing birthday is coming up soon (9th of August). Tonight's epic session with Ealing Repair Cafe was perfect to make some history and generate new GoodGym Ealing trivia for the next quiz! Read on!

Who was the first man in Ealing to achieve 1000 good deeds?

Sevan was the first man in the area to wear the legendary 1000 Deeds cape created by Milly for the overachievers of West London. The cape received Mary's approval! Sevan was also presented with a (rather rude due to ordering mishap!) trophy. Sevan can now show his fingers to counting good deeds (very naughty in a church!) and say he does good for fun and out of a good heart. He's beyond the milestones now.

How did Mary get such a premium venue?

Wait! Was the workshop held in church? Mary and Lone from Ealing Repair Cafe contributed their services to St Mary's Church in Acton, revamping the curtains and providing draught excluders to keep the church a bit warmer in the winter (you can see Mary proudly presenting them in one of the pictures). The grateful church community allowed Ealing Repair Cafe to use the church as a location for tonight's workshop! How cool is that!

How long is a piece of string?

Madhan was busy making threads for the drawstring t-shirt bags. He made two balls of string (the size, not quantity matters!). You may ask now: how long is a piece of string? Madhan has the answer to that - 140ft! Madhan's feet, to be precise, as he unfolded one thread around the church and then diligently measured it with his feet!

Who's not afraid of sewing machines?

While Kash, Steph and Sevan decided to play it safe and stick to cutting t-shirts and jeans or assembling bunting, Gaby was the first one to have a go at the electric sewing machine. She got stuck into it for the entire session, producing 12 multi-purpose bags that others finished adding scraps of thread as drawstrings. Those kind of bags were in the past donated to the Northfields Community Library and Food Cupboard.

Who's the Great Old Dane?

Nishy and Chris got acquainted with the super sustainable Great Old Dane - a classic, portable Singer sewing machine: no pedals, no electricity, no emissions, free arm workout, and 3 lines of bunting for community groups as a result (the last one kindly finished quickly by Lone)!

What happened to Chris' donation?

At the previous episode of our craft adventures with Ealing Repair Cafe, Chris donated plenty of his old sports clothes and trainers. The GoodGymers sent a big box of those running shoes to JogOn for recycling later that week. But what happened to the clothes Mary from Ealing Repair Cafe agreed to take? The sportswear in good condition was sent to the refugees staying in hotels in Hounslow. And the worn football T-shirts? Those ended up even better! At a repair event that Mary ran in Brentford, she made one of the participants smile, getting them a patch with a Liverpool logo - a rare treat!

Who's GoodGym Ealing's go-to baker?

Nishy gave tonight's session an extra flavour - the chocolate flavour! As a part-time pro-baker, she had brought her homemade chocolate cake for everyone to celebrate Sevan's milestone. Thank you Nishy!

What do GoodGymers drink after a session in Acton?

After a break from post-group run socials, we returned to the tradition of grabbing a pot of chaii after the task in Acton. Sevan gave us finally a good excuse for a toast and to stay a bit longer together for a chat.

Next week, we will be running in the opposite direction to Acton, visiting the William Hobbayne Centre in Hanwell to help clear their backyard. Sign up now!

There were an impressive number of finishers at today's Pitshanger Junior parkrun, taking all of the GoodGymers present by surprise, including Gaby who was handing out the finish tokens. In all, 102 crossed the finish line, which is awesome. Gaby was also surprised to see the red t-shirts of the other GoodGymers as she hadn't known that today was GoodGym Ealing's regular session at the parkrun.

Around the course, Kash, Steph, Harvey and Sevan were marshalling. As usual, the majority of children had a great morning, while a few would rather have been in bed and were dragged around the course by their parents. Sevan caught one very young runner who tried to sneak to the finish line after only completing 1 lap, readily admitting that they still had further to run and who did eventually complete the 2km course.

If you'd like to join in next month, you can sign up here.

Seven Ealing GoodGymers ditched the Sunday morning lie-in routine to assemble in front of Greenford Park Community Hall for another session to improve the centre's back garden. The backyard used to be a storage space for the London Bike Hub, and when GoodGym visited for the first time, it was full of bicycles in various states: from fine rides needing just a bit of maintenance to wretched-looking frames that hadn't seen their wheels for ages. Over the past few sessions, GoodGymers greatly reduced the number of bicycles in the space, but bike-shifting was still on today's task agenda!

GoodGymers Sevan, Kash and Mira ran to the sessions while the others walked. Did I just mention Mira? She's our newest addition to the team, with a knack for DIY! Our sessions never require experience in any particular area, but we wouldn't say no to bringing practical skills - especially since today's task called for painting.

While Diana, Gaby and Mohamed followed John, the task owner from GPRA, to carry, drive, drag or wheelbarrow old bikes to store them at John's allotment space, the remaining GoodGymers stayed with GPRA members Emma and Heather to further clear the backyard and make enough room to paint old wooden benches. Not seeing the bike squad returning for a while, Sevan set off for a rescue mission.

Mira, Michelle and Kash swept and packed the dried garden waste that had not fit in the green bin last month. One of the benches was now within reach! With no paper nor time to do sanding, Michelle diligently wiped the wood with a cloth and was excited to paint a bench for the first time! Mira gave Michelle some pro tips before both dipped the brushes in the bucket of paint, which, despite all the stirring, felt quite gooey.

When the bike shifters team, eventually joined by Sevan and later Kash, returned from their expedition to the allotment, Mira and Michelle said they must have put about ten coats of paint. Although the paint available to the GoodGymers was quite old, the bench received a much fresher look and more protection from the elements. The yard looked tidier with fewer bikes and without plies of leaves and ivy.

We will be back soon at the GPRA Community Hall to continue with the transformation. Check out how the back garden looked when we started work on that side of the hall and see the difference our sessions made!

On a sunny Saturday like this, what could have been better than spending the morning amongst the lush green wilderness of Horsenden Hill? A recent report by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) found that spending 20 minutes in nature each day can brings incredible benefits to our mental health like reducing stress and anxiety and improving mood, self-esteem and confidence.

Members of WWF UK, Annie, Emma, Kat and Ferozah, visited Horsenden Farm as a part of their Prescription for Nature campaign to experience a GoodGym-style workout outdoors and encourage communities across the UK to do the same.

Not everyone has equal opportunities to enjoy physical activity in nature. For some communities being outdoors is not considered the norm, for others, barriers may involve access to transport or living in a nature-deprived area. Our special guest at today's session, Haroon Mota, the founder of Active Inclusion Network CIC and the Muslim Hikers group, actively works to empower the underrepresented communities to engage in the great outdoors.

The guests and nine GoodGym regulars met Elsa, a Friend of Horsenden Hill, who prepared a unique activity: a conservation-type task! Our job was to clear ash trees and brambles in the woodland area. How cutting back vegetation is supposed to help nature, you may ask. The benefits were twofold. Firstly, clearing the area of overgrowth was aimed at promoting the growth of grasses which would become habitats for various species, increasing the biodiversity of the hill. Secondly, we were making the feed for the Horsenden cows out of ash trees.

"The cows are going to eat wood? No way!"

Challenge accepted! We served lunch to the cows, a bull and a three-week-old calf by throwing the trimmings over the fence. And how they munched on those branches! Just like us on the pizza from Horsenden Loaf we treated ourselves to after the session!

Elsa was impressed to see how much space we cleared in 90 minutes, thanks to the power of teamwork. The session in the woods gave everyone a boost for the rest of the day. It was a fantastic opportunity to connect with nature, meet new people and do something good.

If you want to join us next time at Horsenden Farm, sign up here!