"Who is it?" - Miss O
"Kash and Sevan from GoodGym. We're here to help you declutter" - Sevan

The door opened and Miss O looked at the pair

"I've voted already" - Miss O
"No we're here to help with your decluttering" - Sevan

It was local election day and Kash's red GoodGym jacket was making an unintentional political statement. Once Miss O was convinced that the GoodGymers weren't canvassing, she let them inside and explained her problem. A year ago her kitchen had been replaced and in the process, she'd lost 2 cupboards, so all those items were in black bags on the living room floor. Miss O needed help to get rid of 2 cupboards worth of things, mostly large pots and pans as she now lived alone, and needed help with this as she was visually impaired

Initially Miss O expected the first GoodGym mission to be a meet & greet. With a little persuasion, Kash convinced her that it was the perfect time to jump into action and start discarding things.

Kash and Sevan found all manner of unusual kitchen devices in the black bags, with Kash feeling like it was a quiz that she'd never been taught the answers to and Sevan getting a little over half marks. There were the usual pots and pans, from large to small. There were rice cookers from large to small and pressure cookers too. Miss O explained that as her family had moved away, she'd bought smaller versions of each tool and still had them all. Then came:

• multiple bottle openers
• a nutmeg grater
• a butter baller
• a drinks can sealer
• a citrus zester
• a grill pan handle
• a toffee hammer
• many, many tea eggs
• and lots of other bits and bobs

Miss O still had a great memory and could identify every item and component by sight or by touch. As items were identified, they went from their original black bags into a range of others, for plastics, for mugs, for pots and pans and so on. Each had a different purpose. The rice cookers and pressure cookers were keepers to give to friends and family, while a black bag full of mugs was prepped for donation. Four of the bags containing electricals, pots and meat mincers were destined to go to discard pile outside, which was a great first step.

I took advantage of my non-typical work location this Wednesday to incorporate a scenic 4km walk from Victoria to Bloomsbury for my usual evening shop for Ms F. The route took me through the busy streets of Central London, filled with smartly dressed people, and past some quintessential London landmarks.

Ms F recently returned from her holiday, where she had been braving the snow with Nordic walking poles every day. While that activity had been a fantastic exercise that made her feel stronger and more refreshed, back at home, she still needed help with carrying heavy groceries. She was delighted to see me around to take up her six-pack water-carrying challenge.

I was very lucky at Waitrose with the fish and cheese counters that weren't closed this time. Unfortunately, the freezers weren't doing equally well, with only a quarter of them working and having stock in them, so I wasn't able to buy French fries. A minor disappointment occurred when I reported to Ms F that her vouchers hadn't been applied, despite having scanned her loyalty card. After a quick investigation, we found out that Ms F had forgotten to claim them in her Waitrose app, being caught up with her appointments. Next time!

Do you remember the story from the most recent session at Popesfield Allotments, where I noted that GoodGym Ealing hadn't visited Cultivate London's plant nursery for two years? Well, such a gap didn't happen this time! Our team was back within three weeks since the April 2026 session, as we had left a job unfinished, and we don't like that.

So, what do we like? The sound of weeds' roots being seamlessly pulled through a membrane, oh yes! This Tuesday evening task was filled with satisfying ambient noises and a sense of achievement.

Conor, Sevan, Steph Ducat and Kash ran from Ealing Broadway to meet another runner - Harvey, cyclist James and walker Anna.

Anna arrived for her first GoodGym session after being recruited by our mutual friend from LAGER Can - what a brilliant turn of events! Anna likes a good litter pick, but nothing beats a green task closer to nature. She arrived ready with small weeding tools and even offered others her spare gloves, which astonished the regulars - usually it's the other way around with the newbies! Neither gloves nor tools were really necessary as the weeds were extremely easy to pull by hand, and that was an utterly satisfying sensation.

With a team of seven and an hour of pulling, sweeping, bagging and pallet-lifting, we finished clearing the entire membrane area, filling two tonne bags with garden waste. Minus a few holes (made by weeds, not us!), the membrane looked like new.

"You could eat dinner from that!" - Harvey.
"Is it dinner time?"

Next Tuesday, we'll have more gardening to do as we'll be helping gardener Cliff maintain the peaceful space for church-goers and residents of South Ealing at St Mary's churchyard. Sign up now!

Friends of Waterman’s Park had a grand vision. Forget boring planters or a generic wildflower meadow. Enter the Dragon... path! The Green Dragon Path was going to be planted in a wildflower area, currently overtaken by grass. The creative vision came with a design on paper - what better way to attract adventurers than a map to a dragon’s treasure waiting to be uncovered!

Maria walked all the way from Hackney to Brentford to be part of this grand community endeavour, created in partnership with Green Dragon Primary School (how cool is that for a school name!). Amy, although new to GoodGym and West London, already had a couple of local volunteering tasks under her belt and couldn’t miss this one, so she cycled to Waterman’s Park too. Finally, Sevan and Kash - already having found some dragon figurines in the morning and gone on a Hobbit-style quest at noon - were up for anything that involved dragons and magic. All four GoodGymers were exactly where they needed to be.

After a bit of anticipation - while the visionary lead explained the approach, the mower was connected, the right tools arrived, and parents with children joined the effort to bring the dragon to life - everyone got to planting.

The soil was dry and hard, full of rocks and bricks, and it wasn’t easy at all to dig into, even for the smallest flowers. Luckily, the more powerful tools soon arrived and changed the course of the session. Sevan and Kash, already familiar with mattocks and pickaxes, were delighted to see the right tools to break through the impenetrable ground. One of the volunteers, Seyed - an embodiment of skill and strength - took mattocking to the next level, helping others dig holes and unearthing an impressive block of concrete, which later found its resting place in the Thames.

Maria and Amy, initially reluctant to admit their undiscovered love for hacking into the ground with a mattock - saying things like “You’re the strong one, you do it” or “I prefer a smaller, more gentle tool” - quickly changed their minds once they gave it a go. The mattock and pickaxe proved irresistible, and soon the pair were sending tremors through the soil that seemed to awaken the sleeping dragon. The mystical creature came to life, with flowers and spiky ornamental grasses shaping its winding body, head, and fishy tail. What a wonderful creation for the community it was!