Shopping for Mr K, with 2 bottles of bleach!

Luis and JP took time out on Thursday lunchtime to visit Mrs H to help out in her garden. We did a couple of missions for Mrs H before, a few years ago, so it was nice to be reunited to catch up and enjoy a cup of tea and a biscuit or 5.

The tea and biscuits were the reward for starting a pretty big task which will require another couple of visits to complete: removing the ivy from the fence and tree in Mrs H’s garden.

Before starting with that, we trimmed the bush which had grown out of control. Then we set to removing the ivy, which came away from the fence in a satisfyingly complete way, meaning before long we had more or less filled the back part of the garden with piles of leafy tendrils.

The big part of the job is chopping up and disposing of the ivy. On this mission Mrs H managed to borrow two green bins from neighbours which we filled up to the brim.

Plenty more still to do, but we agreed to go back in a couple of weeks for the next session!

A regular task with regular runners, but not our regular area activator… we had Ana-lternative run lead tonight in Lucy to get the gang of GoodGymmers down to Chiswick House safely.

We met Chris the gardener, who let us into the grounds after hours and led us up to the grounds to grab our gear for tonight’s task and off we headed to the spot where the action would be occurring. The exciting thing about Chiswick House is that every time we visit there always seems to be a new area to discover, and a different task to be done.

Tonight, we were shown a mountain of woodchip and mulch, with the addition of a few autumnal leaves sprinkled atop. Our task was to move this woodchip from its pile below cedar tree A to a new spot below cedar tree B, about 100 yards down. So we got to work, forking down and shovelling the organic matter into wheelbarrows, moving it across the grounds and then dumping the load in the correct place for Chris to rake out. The relocated woodchip and mulch is full of nutrients for the soil and tree roots below, and helps to increase the biodiversity of the ground below, which is, Chris explained, a really good thing.

So we had done good and learnt some good! Cedar tree B had a new ring of woodchip, finished just as our time was up. Wheelbarrows, shovels, forks and rakes were safely located back by the kitchen gardens and Chris unlocked the gates and let us escape back into the wild once more. The walkers went off, followed by the running group, and we all happened to meet at the pub at the same time following our cool down. Timed to perfection once more!

Today, I had the chance to help pack bags of sugar at the Hounslow Community Foodbox. It was a simple task, but knowing that these small bags would become part of something bigger—something that could help improve lives—made it truly meaningful. The two other volunteers were incredibly kind and welcoming, guiding me through the process with patience and clear instructions since it was my first time. I’m already looking forward to going back whenever I have the chance.

K&S Un-Flatpackers arrived at Ms B's house to find that the yellow Hippo Bags that they'd filled with waste last time had disappeared. That seemed like a good sign after all the effort of filling them. Today, Ms B wanted to have a new bed and bedside table built, so no rubble moving.

Entering Ms B's bedroom, the foot of a bed was already sitting on the floor along with 2 cardboard boxes. One of them had "Box 3 of 3" written on it 🤔 After opening the 2 boxes the team could see, they found that:

• One box was missing
• The instructions were missing

Ms B didn't remember a third box. After a few minutes, she returned with the instruction sheets. That was a huge help as Kash and Sevan learned that:

• The fixings were missing
• The feet were missing
• They couldn't put the bed together without its bolts

After another seek through the house, Ms B returned with 3 feet for the bed, but she was still boltless. Without the bolts, the bed would fall apart. So, it was on to plan B. Building the bedside table and dismantling the existing bedroom furniture.

"Do you want to be a builder or a breaker?" - Sevan
"You know what's my speciality" - Kash
"OK, so I'll build the bedside table and you destroy the furniture" - Sevan

Sevan spent the remaining 60 minutes methodically building a small bedside table, which probably had more fixings than the whole bed that they should've been building. The instructions for the bed were fairly simple by comparison.

Meanwhile, Kash broke apart the old bedside table and emptied the wardrobe of clothes, breaking that down too. She worked methodically, removing screws and nails, placing the worn out components in a neat pile, carefully working around the now unboxed bed parts. No one wanted to lose a screw or nail in the shaggy rug as it would be a big pointy accident risk with lots of paperwork needing to be filled in.

In the end, it all went well. Sevan finished the bedside table and Kash disposed of the old furniture in the back garden. The closest anyone or anything came to injury was Ms B's dog, who tried to scoff down Sevan's stubby screwdriver, before it was rescued and put in a safe place (the screwdriver, that is).

The task got me out for some fresh air and exercise and a lovely chat with a good friend. And we were both amazed at just how much litter there was just about any where we looked. It wasn't long before our bags filled and we were on our way to the rest of our day and the streets looking the better for it!