A very sunny evening saw us gathering in front of Chiswick Town Hall, with fitness-leader-in-training Ariane nervously leading the group through a warm up session. Some strong winds had caused Chiswick House to have to close the grounds early, so we were off to some last minute litter picking work down at Kew Bridge as an alternative. We had an easy 1.5k run down to the river to meet up with the rest of the team.

Most importantly, there were lots of celebrations to be had this evening! First for Michelle, Lucy, and Remy (with us in spirit) for completing the London Marathon at the weekend, and then for Steph for reaching the impressive milestone of 1000 good deeds! We welcomed Chris to his first GoodGym session; welcome! He was given a quick run down of all things GG Hounslow (e.g, do you prefer Waitrose or M&S? Do you like Gails? Here’s the time Luis found… nevermind.)

Then on to the task at hand. However, we met our next challenge when we discovered that the canoe club had already set off for their evening paddle, taking the key to the equipment shed with them! But we’re not to be put off that easily. As Ana sprinted away to get some bin bags from the local Sainsbury’s, the group had a quick round of fitness Simon Says (well done Lucy for tricking everyone into not doing burpees) before we made ourselves useful having a general weed around the area.

Once Ana was back with an assortment of bin bags, we had a speedy litter pick, including gathering up a derelict rug, and making a phone call to the experts to deal with some more unsavory finds.

Despite the last minute changes, we still managed to fill five bin bags and clear the paving by the draw dock. Great work everyone! All that was left was to finish with a run back to the town hall and a quick stretch. Proof that it's actually quite hard to stop GoodGymers en masse doing something useful!

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!

I have a confession: when I ran to Hanwell for the litter pick around St Mellitus Church and the local bus stop, I had a crisis of faith in the impact of my solo task. By the looks of it, the area didn't seem as untidy as it used to be during our winter group runs there. I started picking really, really small stuff: mostly plastic wrappers from cigarette packs and a few from chocolate bars. Not even a can, not a bottle. What was I doing there? Inhaling cigarette smoke from the bus stop, listening to people shouting at the nearby petrol station. People and buses came and went. And I kept picking. I cleared the drain grate blocked by layers of plastic. Then I found a bottle of Red Stripe or something similar. And then a car mat. And then...

Sorry, is this GoodGym?

Then I found Santiago, who joined me for his first session! Or rather, he found me. I followed his zest in the pursuit of true GoodGymming... and litter! Being so close to a church, it seemed fitting to adopt the Biblical seek and ye shall find approach. We scoured for rubbish around the fence in front of the church, and then decided to look for a way to enter the church yard - and we've found an unlocked side gate!

On the other side of the fence, in the shade of the church, things looked more magnificent and messy at the same time. Chatting away about life in London, religion and the weirdest findings from our runs or litter picks, we started discovering beer cans, single-use vapes and drinking glasses. It was definitely worthwhile to hang out a bit longer at the litter pick and scan the church yard for trash - we've collected a full bag of litter that had been hiding from less watchful eyes.

Well done for showing up, Santiago, and welcome to GoodGym!

Miss M proudly announced to Kash and Sevan that after today, she would only have one more mission before her decluttering would be complete. Wonderful!

Miss M had 2 big laundry bags, 3 smaller bags and a small box ready to go for them. The box said Steiff and Sevan commented that it was a fancy toy brand. Miss M agreed and said that the bear was in her flat. There were only socks in the box, which was disappointing. Sevan emptied the box and left it behind for Miss M's bear to live in.

On the way to the charity shop, Sevan and Kash spoke about Steiff bears and what the point in having collectible teddy bears was. Sevan pointed out that they had another, more regular teddy bear to donate and there was also a bear in a bag that Kash was carrying. After a short pause:

"Winnie the Pooh" - Sevan
"What?" - Kash
"Winnie the Pooh" - Sevan
"I don't understand. You're saying that WE need a poo?!" - Kash
"No. The bear? In your bag? It's Winnie the Pooh" - Sevan
"Oh! 🤭 This is going to be a more interesting report than I thought" - Kash

They'd finished giggling by the time they got to Fara where it was time for the serious business of donating Miss M's belongings. Unlike previous times, the staff wanted to know what was in the bags. They were happy to take the clothes, DVDs and soft toys, but bedding, blankets and towels weren't useful to them, so were turned away. That left Kash and Sevan to take 80% of the contents back to Miss M, including the Winnie the Pooh towel.

Miss M was disappointed that the fabrics had come back:

"I'm back to square one" - Miss M

Kash and Sevan spoke about the progress Miss M had made and tried to reassure her. Based on the shop assistant's recommmendation, Kash and Sevan suggested contacting a homeless shelter, who may be happy to receive and collect blankets and bedding.

On the way out they heard Miss M talking to herself at the top of the stairwell, saying:

"I'm back to square one" - Miss M

😢