On a sunny late afternoon, our GoodGym crew came along to support Collective Light, a pop-up community event built around an interactive glowing park furniture - powered by touch and movement. As people gather, connect and play, the space comes alive with light, turning everyday moments into something magical and helping to create a park that feels safer and more welcoming. A busy park is a safe park.

At today's festival, there was art, storytelling, yoga, nature workshops and community conversations. GoodGym gathered together a small group of willing festival goers to play our part in keeping the space litter free ahead of a tea party, chatting all the way! We split into small teams - two teams finding one sock each. Sadly they didn't form a pair. But that's okay, they still went in the bin bags!

Five GoodGymers were on hand to help set up the third of four free summer events at Watermans Park.

Kai, Kash, Michelle and Breda took on the now-familiar challenge of erecting three gazebos. By this point, you’d think we’d have cracked it. Not quite, but Philippe came to the rescue and normal service was resumed.

Next came the bunting. As we discovered the last two saturday's there seemed to be enough of it to decorate the Thames towpath all the way to Kew. Before a single flag was tied, Breda opened early negotiations with Sevan and Kash over the optimal bunting locations, with one eye firmly on making the evening pack down as painless as possible… more on whether that strategy paid off later!

With gazebos standing, bunting fluttering and the bandstand looking suitably festive, the whole set-up was wrapped up in around half an hour. That left plenty of time for what is now becoming a Watermans tradition: the pre-performance pilgrimage in search of ice lollies.

Goods secured, we had our hydration break before Kai Sevan and Kash headed back closer to home and Breda and I returned to the park to watch the local acts.

Another hot Saturday in Southall offered everyone a bit of relief from the heatwave, with a gentle breeze reaching Western Road Urban Garden.

Four GoodGymers and Janpal from Southall Community Alliance were the only participants at the community day until one of SCA's trustees and a member of the Southall community joined them.

Before getting to work, Janpal showed the GoodGymers the recent developments in the orchard and the polytunnel. The dwarf fruit trees, planted less than three years ago, were already bearing copious amounts of fruit. In the polytunnel, exotic plants like karela and snake gourd, and more familiar ones like aubergines, cucumbers, watermelon and bell peppers, had started producing crops as well - and we'd only watered them last month when the plants were still small. What an incredible growth!

Today's task was simple: remove weeds from three sections of a vegetable plot to free up space for more food to grow. Sevan, Amy, Freya and Kash tackled thistles, nettles and bathua, which Janpal described as a staple green in North Indian cuisine. The plant, although healthy and tasty, had completely taken over the veg plot, so it had to be removed. Luckily, it was easy to pull out. We cleared the whole patch with ease, leaving only two rogue tomato plants that had introduced themselves from the neighbouring plot.

After a break to grab some water, fruit and samosas that Janpal had brought for us, we continued by clearing the plot closest to the fence - removing not just weeds! The amount of broken glass we keep finding in the soil never ceases to amaze us, even though we've dug that area several times and many of us know Western Road's past as a derelict allotment and a fly-tipping hotspot.

Time flew by. We chatted not only about football, but also about Southall Community Alliance, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. Janpal has been with the organisation almost from the beginning and told us the story behind the charity, its focus on bringing community groups together in Southall, and tackling important local issues such as inequality, poverty, mental health and social isolation.

We entered the woodchipping phase and covered all the soil and the remaining broken glass we hadn't been able to remove. We're sure we'll find it again at the next opportunity to dig that section!

The highlight of the session was tasting the delicious apricots from the orchard. Janpal had covered the little tree with a net to save some of the fruit for the volunteers. The method had proved a successful defence against the fox, who loves to steal the fruit before it gets ripe.

"He won't be getting his one of five a day now," said Janpal.

Thanks to that, we could get a little closer to our fruit and veg quota, munching on sweet, juicy apricots straight from the tree. You won't get that kind of taste from the supermarket!

If you want to help out at the urban garden and find out what will be ready to harvest in August, join us for the session next month. Sign up here!