After a brief warm-up at the heart of bustling Ealing Broadway, five GoodGymers set off for a sunny run to Acton. Among them: a guest from Barnet, Jacqui, who came to celebrate Steph's 1004th good deed with the Ealing team! We couldn't keep up with Steph's tasking pace, and hadn't managed to update the celebratory red-and-gold cape, so our Frenchman had to fly to Acton with merely a "1000" on his back!

The mighty cape turned out to have a mind of its own, and - maybe aware of incompatibility with the extra 4 good deeds - tried to fly away before the runners reached Ealing Common. Luckily, Sevan backmarked the group, while Conor and Kash obliviously pressed ahead, so no capes have been left behind.

The running team stopped opposite Acton Park (known to GoodGymers mostly as a junior parkrun location) to meet cyclist Maria and runner Harvey. The mission brief was simple: post flyers through houses' and flats' letter boxes to promote Movement on the Mount - a programme supporting women facing challenges accessing exercise, for example, women with low confidence, caring responsibilities, limited income, or from diverse cultural backgrounds. The execution of the task was less straightforward.

The seven leafleteers entered the so-called Acton's Bermuda Triangle: a treacherous area around Birkbeck Grove, Mansell Road and Beardsley Way, where GoodGymers had been lost in the past during flyering tasks, especially after splitting and venturing to a nearby estate. Having covered that part of Acton multiple times since then, our team learned how to navigate those streets - but this time it led to overconfidence as we ventured into forbidden postcodes!

"W4... Hmm, isn't this Chiswick?"
"The leaflet says the eligible attendees are women living in W3."
"Uh-oh!"

Feeling like outlaws, we scrambled to get out of the Hounslow Borough, trespassing on Southfield Recreation Ground - also mostly within W4. It was a nice extra run, though! The route took us back to W3, but we landed in a primarily industrial area and had to wander around looking for residential streets. Eventually, we finished off the leaflets and emerged back on the main road in Acton.

A short run via Uxbridge Road took us to ActOne Cinema - not for the movies, but for a pit stop at their lovely, quiet cafe to celebrate Steph's milestone. Having refilled ourselves with light refreshments (and a box of popcorn on the house), we ran back to Ealing Broadway.

Next week's Tuesday session is at Cultivate London's plant nursery at Popesfield Allotments to continue tidying up the space - sign up here to join us!

Thanks to everyone who took part in our March Any Place, Anywhere litter pick and sent in photos. Great to see people getting involved in such a simple, flexible, feel-good community mission. Gus even helped me with mine this month!

Litter picking is basically training: walking, squatting, spotting, lifting, and improving your local area all at once. So why not get in training with GoodGym for April’s Any Place, Anywhere litter pick?

Do it whenever suits you, wherever you are. Please share and encourage anyone else who might want to join in. Let me know if you’d like to take part.

here’s a note from Jacaqui

Sally and I litterpicked enroute to the theatre again® . There was so much litter that we were still half a mile away once we'd filled our bags • Will take more bags next time .

Our friends at Discover Welling have launched 'The Tour of Welling', a series of community tidy-up events during the Great British Spring Clean fortnight, and we joined the first stop on the Tour.

Four of us gathered with the Discover Welling team and a local councillor for an afternoon litter pick at Shoulder of Mutton Green. Just a couple of hours earlier we’d been basking in decent weather at a task at Lesnes Abbey, but by the time we arrived in Welling, the sun had clocked off. The sky had turned an ominous shade of grey and a bitter wind was whistling around the Green trying to steal our bin bags.

Did that stop us? Of course not.

We scoured the Green for rubbish, and there was plenty to keep us busy. Into the bags went the usual culprits: vodka bottles, beer cans, cigarette butts, crisp packets, sweet wrappers, disposable cups and fast-food cartons.

But every litter pick has its surprises and mysteries.

Among the more unusual finds were a tea strainer and a pair of shoes. Were they connected? Was someone once brewing a cuppa on the Green before abandoning their footwear? We'll never know!

After an hour of teamwork and nattering we’d built up a pile of bin bags ready for the council to collect next week.

With the clouds looking more and more threatening, we made a timely retreat home just before the rain arrived.

A good job well done and stage one on the Tour of Welling completed!

Huge thanks to Jacqui from GG Brent for travelling north-to-south to lend a hand.

Linda was feeling her age and a bit under the weather, regretting setting up a mission to celebrate her 200th parkrun when she had only done 199 so couldn't opt out today 😩.

Fortunately Valentines had more than enough volunteers leaving Peter and James free to offer their moral support trotting round with Linda at a much slower pace than they are used to. Ed and Sharon had been given Marshaling spots so were shouting support from their posts. Jaquie stayed behind after her run to encourage Linda over the finish line and take photos/video to prove the run got done (she also provided a commemorative "200" badge), Katherine double backed after her run to add to the support posse.

Not all were official volunteer roles but technically everyone was supporting a vulnerable older person 🤪 which is what goodgym is all about. 🤗

We then went on to "The Spoons" for a celebratory cuppa and a mini Wiggles The Caterpillar.

Today the task was completed by just two of us from the GoodGym team – Jacqui and me. It was Jacqui’s first time at this location, so it was lovely to welcome her. We worked together to organise the space and get everything ready. First, we moved all the Food Bank boxes to their proper place. Then we returned the tables to where they belong in the hall. We also collected the empty crates and loaded them into the Food Bank vehicle. Finally, we arranged the chairs neatly in rows so the hall is ready for the next activity, as shown in the photos. A small team today, but we got the job done! 💪

12 GoodGymers made a difference at the penultimate winter shelter of the season!

We were super fortunate to welcome three lovely new faces this week — a big welcome to Emma, Joe, and Jonny!

And they joined our friendly and fabulous group of Al, Charlie, Emily, Jackie, Jacqui, John, Paul, and Philippa!

Across 35 well-spent minutes, this troupe:

❤️ Assembled, positioned, and dressed 14 beds ready and waiting for the evening's guests

❤️ Set 22 spaces for a (delicious-smelling) volunteer-cooked dinner

❤️ Did everything while connecting and chatting aplenty :)

Thank you, everyone!