Last night GoodGym Hounslow was back on Turnham Green, helping to sow the seeds of what should be another beautiful display next spring.

We did this job last year and the results were fantastic — bright daisies, pops of poppies and cornflowers bringing a splash of colour to the Green. In fact, we even had passers-by stopping to tell us how much they’d enjoyed the flowers last year! 🌸

Our first job was to scarify the ground, working in strips across the meadow. This meant pulling up the dried grass and vegetation to expose patches of bare soil, before gathering up and removing the rough grass.

Next was the heavy rolling. This helped consolidate and firm the seedbed, giving the newly prepared ground a good, even surface and helping create good contact between the soil and the seeds.

And then came the fun bit — sowing the seeds! 🌱

With the ground prepared, we scattered the wildflower seeds across the freshly exposed soil, ready for nature to do its thing over the coming months.

Watch this space in spring to see what happens next! 👀🌼

It’s a small investment of time now that will hopefully bring colour, enjoyment and increased biodiversity to Turnham Green for months to come. A little work last night for the benefit of people and wildlife in the future. 💚

With the task complete, we still had time for a nice long full-body workout on the Green. We started with some strength and conditioning, working all the major muscle groups, before moving on to some cardio to get those heart rates climbing. We finished with the bit everyone loves to hate — a two-minute burner! 🔥

Great work, everybody.

🏃 This Sunday: join us for an inclusive, social trail run around Wimbledon Common. Around 10km, at a social pace, with hills, greenery and plenty of chat — all welcome!

🌿 Next Wednesday: we’re heading back to help Wild Chiswick

See you next week! 💚

Our litterpicker rebels were at it again this month and scopped rubbish there and then in the borough. But isn't it nice to receive some recognition from the public when you are picking up rubbish. Janet was pleased to get a nice thank you from a passing by cyclist when she was clearing rubbish along the canal near Hanwell. The Egyptian geese nearby might have been thinking the same but we will never know. Gracie mille to all and hopefully you do get thank you on your litter picking missions

We were due to help our friends at GROAD get their new venue ready at GreenWorks 🛠️. But Andrea got held up at their storage facility, so all we could manage was a spot of weeding outside. 🌿😅

But as GGers, when life gives you lemons 🍋... we head to the pub(for grown up lemonade)! The group finished early and made it to the social double quick, where Ben (despite his jet lag ✈️😴) had organised a quiz for us. It was a quizzical turn of events, but a wonderfully fun one!

GG Lambeth showed its competitive side (well, some of us did 👀), and our two teams took 1st 🥇 and 3rd 🥉 on the podium!! 🥳 Clearly we're as sharp with our brains as we are with our trowels 🧠

Join us next month at the social, when we'll be spending our winnings 💰 and making full use of the karaoke facilities 😱🎤🎙️ You have been warned!

A lovely evening, fun friends to share it with and another great task well done(ish)! 🧰❤️

Who was there: RJ 🌟, Amona 🌟, Yianny, Katie, Lucy, Tilly, Jo, Fi, Adam and Rich 💪🏼

🌟 = welcome to your first GoodGym session RJ & Amona we were delighted to have you with us, you rooted for us and it bloomed into a great night! 🌸🥰

Monday night and all the roads lead to ...The Purple Elephant Project. Runners, walkers and cyclists chased to sun through the streets of Richmond to meet Maggie at the the project. Task was planting bulbs and putting together some furniture. As the runners zoomed and reached the location early, Maggie welcomed them inside as said that we would focus on the furniture as it was darker than she anticipated outside for the bulb planting. As Goodgymers don't go undeafeated, we said we will get our head torches out when the full team has arrived to get the bulbs planted and have zero losses.

Four boxes were waiting for the Knights. The whole team was in place and we teamed up on unpacking and building the various furniture. Some of us felt strong and brought the older furniture down and out of the building. We had a whole symphony of sounds during the building of the furniture : screw-diculous sounds!! Instruction-page sighting due to missing parts or was it with the other team? Allen-key scraping, clanking screws and wood tapping.

Some parts took longer to build, but then some Goodgymers disappeared outside with their head torches to plant the bulbs that Maggie had for us. Mission accomplished in the dark like proper ninjas.

The brave furniture knights conquered the Flat Box Kingdom .

Another great session at Paddington Rec Track: loads of VI Runners and guides tonight. was it because there was a picnic after the session or the chocolate cake that birthday boy Breandan brought tonight? We will never know! We formed our usual circle at the track, introduced ourselves and said what each person wanted to do tonight. This is the circlenif trust as both VI Runners and Guides put their trust in each other. Welcome to Ryan for his first guided run and he took the challenge of being shadow to Tom who does nearly 10km with a 400 meter finish sprint!! Well done. Then Lucy didnt just stick to guide running : she joined his small group of 5 for a fitness session with running involved - hats up to her. Veronika, Maria, Harvey and Steph Ducat teamed up with a VI Runner to run around the track. After a great session most of us stayed for a small picnic near the track.

Every few weeks we go back to do jobs at Chiswick House and Gardens, and helping out here is always rewarding. Because the Chiswick House & Gardens Trust operates as a registered charity, they rely heavily on the local community to preserve their 65 acres of historic parkland. Without volunteer efforts, maintaining these heritage grounds to share them with the public wouldn't be possible.

Our evening began by gathering on the peak of the Classic Bridge. Built in 1774 for the 5th Duke of Devonshire and designed by the celebrated architect James Wyatt, this beautiful stone structure spans the lake and even still bears shrapnel scars from World War II. Standing on its crest, we took a moment to mark the Autumn Equinox—the exact time of year when day and night are of perfectly equal length. But as any seasoned GoodGymer knows, the equinox also brings a turning point: from here on out, head torches are officially at the ready for our evening sessions! 🔦

We then moved over to a densely overgrown patch to pull out stubborn ivy and tug and snip away at the tangled brambles. By clearing away these aggressive invaders, we opened up space to ensure that the plants meant to grow there can thrive, keeping the entire area beautifully clear and safe.

As twilight crept up on us, the team downed tools and carried heavily loaded bags out to the compost area in the pitch dark, before Maxime capably led the group back to base. Phenomenal work, everyone!

🗺️ Up Next:

Saturday Mission: We are heading over to help out the Friends of Baron's Pond - can you help create a beautiful bluebell grove?

Next week we are staying on home ground for a lovely green session, planting flowers at Turnham Green. Don't miss it!