Do you remember the story from the most recent session at Popesfield Allotments, where I noted that GoodGym Ealing hadn't visited Cultivate London's plant nursery for two years? Well, such a gap didn't happen this time! Our team was back within three weeks since the April 2026 session, as we had left a job unfinished, and we don't like that.

So, what do we like? The sound of weeds' roots being seamlessly pulled through a membrane, oh yes! This Tuesday evening task was filled with satisfying ambient noises and a sense of achievement.

Conor, Sevan, Steph Ducat and Kash ran from Ealing Broadway to meet another runner - Harvey, cyclist James and walker Anna.

Anna arrived for her first GoodGym session after being recruited by our mutual friend from LAGER Can - what a brilliant turn of events! Anna likes a good litter pick, but nothing beats a green task closer to nature. She arrived ready with small weeding tools and even offered others her spare gloves, which astonished the regulars - usually it's the other way around with the newbies! Neither gloves nor tools were really necessary as the weeds were extremely easy to pull by hand, and that was an utterly satisfying sensation.

With a team of seven and an hour of pulling, sweeping, bagging and pallet-lifting, we finished clearing the entire membrane area, filling two tonne bags with garden waste. Minus a few holes (made by weeds, not us!), the membrane looked like new.

"You could eat dinner from that!" - Harvey.
"Is it dinner time?"

Next Tuesday, we'll have more gardening to do as we'll be helping gardener Cliff maintain the peaceful space for church-goers and residents of South Ealing at St Mary's churchyard. Sign up now!

We had a great turn out on bank holiday Monday. Together we filled wheelbarrows with sand and delivered them (along with rake puns) to complete the path through the woods.

The first session of May with Care4Calais brought a lot of clothes sorting. A regular activity for the Care4Calais volunteers. New donations had been gathered from other groups all over London and now needed to be sized and squeezed into the Ealing stock room.

The new donation bags were hauled into the sorting room where Steph, Kash and Sevan worked their way though each one. The first few contained a lot of women's dresses, a cat suit, a extra large jump suit and a bride's maid shirt, probably from a hen do. The bride's maid shirt and everything else needed to be measured up and stored in the right place... meaning overflow bags as the stock boxes were - still - mostly full to bursting.

Next up were the men's donations, which were much less interesting than the women's, as usual. There were some nice denim jackets and a leather-ish one whose best days were in the past. It was leaving a trail of black flakes all over the floor, so it went into the pile of rags to get rid of. Sevan went to help find sports clothes and PJs for children, aided by an unexpected find. There was a small bag labelled "Women's Pyjamas" in exactly the size he was looking for. That never happens at Care4Calais.

Less seasonal pieces like scarves and thermals were put to one side as making people feel toastier wasn't a priority in May. Other unusual finds included a magic cape and a Minion top that had everyone saying "bananas" for the rest of the task.