Report to follow

If you are all about the dramatic before and after pics then this the run report for you!

Despite the grey skies, nine GGers met at Chiswick Allotments to carry out a couple of big tasks that had a transformative effect on a widely used local resource.

We met with Kouroush, who is chair of the allotments, who divided us up into two groups. One to tackle the road that leads to the plots and one in the yard in front of the shed.

Georgia, Alan, Jon, Michelle and Lucy (once she had scaled the wall) got started on pulling up all the weeds encroaching on the length of the path. From overgrown and messy to clear, clean and tidy - what a difference! Now the entrance to this community space will look so much more cared for and welcoming.

Meanwhile the dream team of Kash, Divya and Gus were tackling the yard. Spades and forks were simply not the one, and within minutes they were dispatched in favour of loppers and shears. Watching out for wildlife they got to it, cutting down ivy and clearing weeds. In between snail talk, RSPB membership, tales of Ealing tasks and even a restaurant recommendation or two, wheelbarrows full of waste was filled. Have a look at the amazing after photos to see just what was achieved. And if that wasn't proof enough then have a look at the photos of Gus' pristine white gloves pre and post task!

There is a community mission which could do with some extra help this weekend, so if you're free why not sign up to this gardening task at Harvard Hill. Happy GGing one and all!

From foodbanks to the riverside, schools to Chiswick House itself, we cover a variety of organisations for our tasks in Hounslow. One special one was our location last night. We were back for our regular visit to lend a hand to the sisters at the Comboni Centre.

The sisters here run a centre for spirituality where everybody is welcome. They have a huge garden which needs a lot of looking after, and as we were told last night, the youngest of them is in her 60s so some of the bigger jobs are tricky to do.

We were met by lovely Sister Expedita. As her name translates as speed or haste, it was very on brand for GoodGym! She took us round the area handing out jobs as we went.

Tish and Georgia got their hands on loppers and went straight to work on a big overhanging bush, while Paul and Chris were challenged with uprooting and moving various trees. Gus dispatched a huge root in record time but then had the job of sawing it up for the rest of the night. Meanwhile tree surgeons Luis and Emily had shot up a ladder outside, and Jon and Michelle got stuck in weeding and clearing flowerbeds. Will and Jonny were on weeding and clearing, and before long all the jobs were done and dusted!

We took a short run back to the green where we did three sets of three minutes working on three different muscle groups - glutes, abs and arms. With the backdrop of a beautiful sunset and the encouragement of Paul and Luis, we worked our way through them one by one, and finished off with stretches.

If you'd like to continue your week with some more GGing, then there are a number of missions happening, including helping set up an inclusive music event at Waterman's park on Saturday and Sunday.

With new term vibes in the air, we went back to Strand on the Green school to do a couple of big jobs last night.

So with half the group meeting at the Town Hall, we set off for the school to meet the rest of the team. I was ready to be bamboozled by the codes to get in as usual, but luckily Michelle and her super memory came to the rescue.

The painting team had quite the job in front of them, with two big walls to cover. They wasted no time getting started, with Georgia, Michelle and Lucy transforming the bricks from patchy to warm cream, and Gus tackling the highest patches of wall. But who ended up with the most paint on them, and who was the culprit? We may never know...

Meanwhile the pruning and clearing gang were hard at work by the pond and fence. Ivy was cut, brambles removed, holly trimmed, and after 45 minutes of hard work the area was clean, clear and ready for the kids to come back and enjoy.

We weren't going to pass up the opportunity of nice soft astroturf to do our fitness session, so we all found a comfy spot for core. Six different exercises including flutter kicks, toe taps and mountain climbers each for 45 seconds were repeated twice, giving us a good, thorough abs blast. All that was left was to run to the pub, enjoy Lucy's excellent stretching session and eat Luis' incredible cake for Remy's birthday!

Next week we're going back to the Comboni centre for some more gardening tasks to help out the sisters. See you there!