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!

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

😢