Wednesday Autumn evening and 3 runners Jon, Maxime and Steph Ducat ran together from Chiswick Town Hall to Dukes Meadows Community Centre with Jalal cycling alongside. Alanna and Michelle walked there to meet Rodgers and Karen who were looking forward to welcoming GG Hounslow. We had a massive pile of soil to move in order for Rodgers to have the space clear and setup some beds for future planting. we had spades, forks, 2 wheelbarrows and one of Stephs favorites a matlock which came in handy!! During our task, a lady from the Community centre came out to give us cookies that the youngsters made. Our motivation went up a level and we agreed to eat them at the end 😋. We definitely enjoyed them. In no time the small team moved the pile of soil - roughly 200 kg. Rodgers will be able to start his beds. No fitness session as this was a good workout for all, but the runners did have a stretch at the end of the run back to the town hall.

The cookie Monsters are not that scary and did a great job tonight.

We were back at Chiswick House last night for another lovely GoodGym Hounslow session, and what a treat we had in store: two tasks, both indoors! It was especially good timing with the evenings drawing in.

Chiswick House is a wonderful local resource and the team keep our green spaces thriving, protect their heritage and make them welcoming places for the whole community to enjoy. By helping with the behind-the-scenes jobs, we’re doing our bit to support a special place for local people.

We met up with Poppy and split into two teams to tackle our tasks for the evening.

🌱 Team Seeds

Half the group headed inside to sort through seeds collected from the garden and carefully pack them into pouches. These seeds will either be resown to help grow more beautiful plants or sold to raise funds for the charity. It was peaceful, chatty work, with plenty of time to catch up and discuss everything from the Pope to our upcoming birthday! Proof that chatting while GGing throws up some of the most interesting conversational topics.

🌿 Team Willow

Meanwhile, over in the barn, the other team got busy stripping willow branches before carefully manoeuvring them into arches. These will be planted to support the flowers in the herbaceous borders, helping them grow securely.

This task took a fair bit of skill and dexterity, but GoodGym Hounslow were more than up to the challenge! There were expert demonstrations of willow stripping, along with a spot of country dancing - anyone else remember the Stripping the Willow formation?

It was a thoroughly wholesome and productive evening, with plenty achieved and lots of good company along the way.

🏃 We rounded off the evening with a run back to base, breaking it up with a variety of fitness stations. A little extra exercise to finish off a brilliant session — and some very impressive pictures to prove it!

Next week: We’re heading to Duke’s Meadow to clear a space for young people. Another great opportunity to give something back to our local community, get moving and have a good chat along the way.

See you there, GoodGym Hounslow! ❤️

Another great night at Masbro Centre and we got stuck straight in.

First up was the front garden — we cleared all the fallen leaves and got it looking tidy again. Then it was onto the small roof area, with Jalal up high doing the hero work and getting stuck in.

Next, back garden takeover! Lillie & Matthew made that sliding door glass absolutely shine 🪟 you could barely see the glass afterwards, while Therese, Jalal and I went full leaf-busters and cleared nearly 5 bags worth 🍁💪

Best moment: Lillie rescued some lovely tomatoes from the garden — saved just in time for Bea’s dinner 🍅

Great job done by all, Masbro is looking fresh front to back!

🌱🎃

We were back at Doddington for our monthly session last night— the evenings are getting darker, but thankfully it’s still warm enough to make the most of being outside.

We kicked things off with the important question of the evening: what colour is hippo sweat? Because why wouldn’t we? 🦛

Then it was time to run down to the garden, where we got stuck straight into a whole host of jobs. We laid down cardboard to create new growing space, dug out and replanted teasels, shifted soil around the garden and generally had all hands on deck helping with the maintenance of this special place where local people without access to gardens can grow food.

It’s such a beautiful time of year at Doddington, with amazing squashes and pumpkins growing all around the site. The children will be carving them for the local library, before the contents are cooked up and shared with the community — meaning everyone gets to be part of the life cycle of the garden. 🎃🌱

With the garden jobs done, we headed down to the square for our circuits-based fitness session. And if that wasn’t enough, we finished with a one-minute squat challenge. Our legs were definitely feeling it by the end!

Great work, everybody! 💪

Then it was off to the quiz to defend our GoodGym reputation. 🧠🏆

Next week, we’re heading to Paradise to shovel manure in this beautiful space. Come and get stuck in!

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