On Friday afternoon, Brent Meadow, already fenced off, was quietly humming with anticipation ahead of the wave of noise scheduled to hit it the following day. The air was hot and still, just as it was warming up for the Hanwell Hootie festival on Saturday. It was the last chance to help the organisers make the event a success, and four GoodGymers made their way to the meadow.

It was the first session for Bee, who arrived early and, together with Kash, helped clean the pallet furniture and decorate the volunteer tent with peace signs. Bee was excited to get active outdoors and pleased by how welcoming everyone was. Great to have you on the team, Bee - we hope to see you back soon!

James and Harvey arrived at the same time as another wave of Hootie volunteers flooded the tent, and the GoodGymers quickly concluded there were too many people for everyone to have a job. They were swiftly recruited into the “health & safety department” to secure potential trip hazards and help make sure festival-goers could dance, wander, and enjoy the Hootie safely, ideally without any unexpected acrobatics along the way.

Bee and James used the classic red & white barrier tape to secure any pieces of metal sticking out around the fence, then returned to tape off the perilous guy ropes at the Terry Marshall Academy stage.

"That looks like barbershop signs!" - Harvey.

Harvey and Kash, in the absence of enough barrier tape for both two-person teams, were given yellow, blue and pink ribbons to turn into warning signs around the guy ropes at the main stage. Making bow ties and coordinating colours, they transformed the ropes into a creative expression of the dangers of tripping over while having too much fun.

"That tent is like a maypole!" - Bee.

With the safety of the festival-goers ensured, the team disbanded. Maybe we'll see them enjoying the Hootie on Saturday, or helping to wrap up after the big day at the Sunday session.

"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!