Seven GoodGymers congregated at Watermans Park in Brentford with one mission: to transform the park into the hottest music venue in town for the Friends of Watermans Park’s Summer Bandstand Concert.

This free community event brings together local musicians, singers and DJs every saturday in July, and before the first note could be played, there was plenty of behind-the-scenes Goodgym helping hands to make it all happen.

Sevan and Maxime decided there is no such thing as too much bunting. Fence? Decorated. Another fence? Decorated. Pagoda? Obviously decorated.

Meanwhile, Kash somehow managed to squeeze a workout in while decorating yet more bunting on yet another pagoda.

Breda, Michelle, Kymm and Jacqui became unexpected experts in the delicate art of gazebo construction. Thanks to a combination of shifting plans, strategic repositioning and the occasional “mind your fingers”, they successfully assembled gazebos… not once… not twice… but three times! If there's such a thing as a world gazebo assembly championships they would stand every chance of making it through to the knockout stages.

The goodgym crew made such quick work of set up this week that it meant more time for ice lollies before the concert got underway. No goodgymers performed this week, so the local community may have missed out on pitch perfect singing from the backing singers in red t shirts

It was another hot evening for our GoodGym Hounslow group run, but with blue skies and a perfect task ahead of us, it was set to be a great evening.

Great to see Maria and Jalal joining us for a Hounslow group session—we hope it's one of many!

Our destination was the much-loved Turnham Green mural, a colourful local landmark that celebrates the area's history and has become a familiar backdrop for residents, commuters and visitors . Sitting in such a busy spot means it gets plenty of attention—and, inevitably, plenty of grime—so giving it a good annual clean is an important way to help keep it looking its best.

Armed with mops, scrubbers and plenty of elbow grease, 12 of us got stuck in. Before long, the mural was looking brighter, fresher and ready to continue welcoming everyone passing through Turnham Green.

We attracted plenty of interest from passers-by as we worked. Most were appreciative, stopping to say thank you and complimenting the effort. One curious observer asked if we were "trying to keep out of prison." No, we're not doing community service, even if we can frequently be found out on the run!

With the mural sparkling, it was time to head over to Turnham Green for a set of inventive planks - although everyone had to keep an eye out for the rather spiky bits while holding their positions.

We finished with a gentle run back, stretches and a well-earned cool down. Thanks to Gus for today's pun-spiration,

Don't forget we've got Community Missions in Brentford this weekend, and next Wednesday we're back at Turnham Green for another great evening. And yes - there will definitely be mitigations in place should England make it through to the next round! Sign up here!

Last night a small but perfectly formed group gathered in Hounslow for an evening of riverside litter-picking. We were especially happy to welcome Thaty to her very first Hounslow run – hopefully the first of many!

After a quick briefing, we headed down towards the riverside to find litter pickers waiting for us. Once equipped, we got straight to work.

The haul was sadly familiar: plastic bottles, food wrappers, crisp packets and assorted bits of everyday rubbish. Most frustrating of all was the microplastic – those tiny fragments that seem to be everywhere . They're fiddly to collect and impossible to completely eradicate, but every piece removed is one less piece making its way through the ecosystem.

The scale of the challenge is huge. Research has found microplastics in every major UK river tested, while studies on the Thames have shown that small plastic fragments and films make up the vast majority of plastic pollution found in the water. Plastic bottles remain one of the most common items found in waterways, with food wrappers not far behind.

There's always a moment during a litter pick when you realise there is far more rubbish than you'll ever clear in a single session. But that's not really the point. We can only do so much in an hour, yet every bag filled improves the area, protects wildlife and makes the riverside a little bit better than we found it. Small actions, repeated often, add up.

With our bags collected and our good deed done, it was time to get back to base - with a little extra competition of course. We finished with stretches before several headed to the pub to catch the football and enjoy a well-earned post-task snack.

Looking ahead, this weekend is absolutely packed with community mission opportunities. There are too many to mention individually, but do check out the missions page where you can help marshal WLQP's annual walk, lend a hand at the canal festival, or get stuck into some balsam bashing on Chiswick Eyot. So much choice, and something for everyone.

On a blowy Wednesday evening, we ran up to Popesfield Allotments to continue work on a task that Breda, Maxime and Gus had already made a great start on a few weeks back.

The allotments are managed by Cultivate London, an organisation that creates and supports community growing spaces across west London. Their work helps local people access green space, learn gardening skills, improve biodiversity and grow food locally, making sites like Popesfield a valuable resource for the community.

Our mission for the evening was to empty three large compost beds - or at least make some inroads into the huge piles! The compost itself looked rich and healthy, but unfortunately the tenants had been adding plants infected with blight and other contaminated material. That meant the compost couldn't be reused and needed clearing out completely.

The wheelbarrows were, at best, temperamental. At worst, they seemed actively opposed to the task. There were plenty of spills along the way, but we soon established an effective chain, shovelling, barrowing and emptying at a steady pace. Despite the logistical challenges, we managed to shift an impressive amount of material over the course of the session.

The allotments were buzzing with biodiversity with plenty of woodlice and worms, and as we revealed more of the compost's inhabitants a clever robin appeared and wasted no time taking advantage of the freshly turned soil. It boldly hopped around grabbing as many bugs as it possibly could. It seemed entirely unbothered by our presence and happily watched us while enjoying its feast.

With the compost beds looking much less full, we headed off into the evening. Next week we're back at Chiswick House See you then!

Three brilliant Hounslow GoodGymmers made the journey over to Westminster last night to help transform a hidden little space tucked away in the middle of a maze-like estate. It definitely took some finding but once we arrived there was plenty waiting for us.

One local resident had invested in an impressive collection of herbs and flowers ready to plant - all very much fitting into the purple theme. After some careful positioning, it was time to get everything into the ground.

It wouldn’t be a community gardening task without the usual challenges: hard soil, a selection of “interesting” tools, the puzzle of making the planting plan work, and some particularly persistent allergenics floating around. But the team powered through and managed to get all the lavender, sage and thyme planted.

The result looked fantastic by the end of the evening, and the task owner was delighted — confirmed by a lovely message from him this morning. With a bit of rain over the next few days, the space is going to be flourishing before long: sweet scents, more flowers, better biodiversity, and extra forage for the nearby bee hives. All the good things.

Great work team!