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!

Monday evening saw the return of GoodGym Richmond to the Lynde House care home, one of our favourite places to help out in the local area and where we have previously built a free-standing flowerbed, removed cobwebs from awnings, varnished benches and put up Christmas lights.

Gitana had a new task for us this time, which was to help several of the residents in a session of flower arranging. But before we got going with that, we were asked to plant some pansies outside the front entrance to the home to brighten up the flowerbed there.

The flower arranging took place in the back garden, where six of the residents gathered in the warm evening air. We were provided with flowers including carnations and some greenery gathered from the gardens of the care home. We worked with the residents to help them select the stems they wanted to include in their arrangement and cut them to size for the vase. Everyone was very pleased with the results, with the arrangements being taken inside to brighten up the residents' bedrooms.

There was plenty of chat going on, with many congratulations sent Lucy's way for her successful completion of the London Marathon on Sunday - she even had the medal with her to show everyone. All in all a great mission in which we brightened up Lynde House in more ways than one!

Marathon week had arrived and the buzz was in the air from the very start — excitement, some nerves, and plenty of discussion about Sunday’s big event. If you’re around, come join us to cheer — it’s one of the best days of the year!

Last night we headed out in both walk and run groups towards the allotments in Chiswick, where our friends at Wild Chiswick had plenty lined up for us. We had a great turnout, so with all hands on deck and no shortage of jobs, we got stuck in.

There was watering to be done, a leaky pipe system to wrestle with, raised beds that needed weeding (carefully avoiding the fragrant mint plants), trees to be planted, and even the construction of a dead hedge. Everyone found a task and got moving quickly all set in beautiful surroundings. We even had a very friendly duck who was there to oversee our activities (hope there were no anatidaephobics there last night...).

Despite the season, it was surprisingly chilly — though the good news is that there are perfect conditions expected for those gearing up for the weekend’s races.

Good luck to all our marathoners taking on Sunday, to Florian heading to Hamburg for the half marathon, and of course to everyone getting their parkrun fix. A proper weekend of racing lies ahead, built on the back of a great evening of doing good together.

Same time next week — we’ll be back at Chiswick House!