The roads were glistening white, our fingers were growing blue but our tshirts were red and that means one thing - it's GoodGym Hounslow night!

There was no doubt that the temperature has plummeted which made the prospect of an outside task not particularly inviting. But we had a job to do, and nothing was going to stop us!

We ran down to Strand on the Green school to finish off a job that we have been working on for several sessions. After sanding down the benches in the middle of the school field it was now time to stain them with wood protector.

We located the tins of preserver, grabbed our brushes and got to work.

Gus showcased his speed staining moves, Emily was flipping benches like a pro, Chris was popping the tops of the tins and the whole scene was a blur of activity. After 40 minutes of hard work, the complete set of seven benches was done and ready for winter. It just goes to show that with the right motivation we are highly efficient!

Sub zero temperatures meant that, for once, fitness was not on the cards. Plus we had already had a good workout with all that quick painting and trying to keep warm! So we raced back to base, did some stretches (important when it's cold to prevent injuries) and headed to the toasty pub.

Net week we're back at Chiswick House and there is also a great upcoming mission to rewild the river] (https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/rewild-the-river). Happy GoodGyming everyone!

It's hard to believe that GoodGym Hounslow is a whole eight years old! Yet, with

5,426 good deeds

completed, we've certainly got a lot to show for it!

Over the years we've planted more bulbs that we can count, cleared more bags of rubbish than you can shake a litter pick at, and pulled an unimaginable amount of weeds. Not to mention all the miles we've covered!

We were treated to an indoor task last night (it was our birthday after all) which was just as well as the temperature was definitely dropping. So after a very short run we arrived at the church and community centre on Sutton Court Rd for a big painting job.

We were met by Carol who handed out brushes, and without any dilly-Dali-ing around we got straight into it. There were some excellent fashion choices on display, with the soon to be patented 'bin bag chic' range.

With no tape on hand for neat edges and some patchy paint we had a challenge on our hands, but I would say we did an Emin-entely good job. It just shows what you can do with a Kandin(sky) attitude. Ok, that one didn't work...

Job done, we headed off for Turnham Green, where Michelle debuted her excellent GoodGym Hounslow pass the parcel. Cue the music! Whilst doing squats and other conditioning exercises we passed the parcel, which was stuffed with sweets and questions such as 'who has done all the parkruns within the M25' and fiendish anagrams of past tasks. It was Tish who finally won the prize, which was full of amazing things like magnetic race number fasteners. What a bonus!

We just had time for an egg and spoon race and a ball between the knees relay which showcased some amazing techniques, before retiring to the pub for cake and memories.

Amazing to see all we've achieved over the last eight years, all the friendships made and the good done in the community. Happy Birthday and here's to you GoodGym Hounslow, and long may it continue!

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!

What's that coming over the hill, is it a monster, is it a monster? No! It's just GoodGym Hounslow ready for their Wednesday session in collaboration with #ThisGirlCan!

Creeping it real

Last night 16 of us met to raise awareness about lifting the barrier to women running after dark, to help out at a local school, and to do a spooktacular fitness session. We also got to welcome Ola and Klaudia along to their first session - give them a huge cheer!

Not only that, but we celebrated our lovely Beth's 300th good deed - that is an unbelievable amount of dedication to doing good! Huge congratulations and well done to Beth.

boo-tiful costumes

A lot of us chose to dress up for the occasion. There was Emily in her fabulous sparkly unicorn outfit, Lucy highlighting the terrors of social media in a brilliant mobile phone one piece, Eloise as an excellent light up cat (incredibly helpful for back marking), Beth doubling up cycling safety and Halloween chic in illuminated ghouls and Kash managing to complete the task and run in a terifying mask!

Back to our old haunt

After a warm up we went round the group to name a woman or women who inspire us to get active. Paula Radcliffe, Femke Bol, Kelly Holmes, Eilish McColgan, women who row, and Angela Merkel are just some of the names we look up to. So with the thought of these leading lights in our heads, we set off for our task for the evening.

Last night we were back at Strand-on-the-Green school, a local primary school where we often go to help. We had quite a few jobs to do, including removing ivy from a massive wall, cutting back a huge shrub, and finishing off the bench sanding. We quickly sorted ourselves into teams and got to work.

Ain't no body

We were a blur of activity, with Gus, Luis and Beth tackling the removal of the ivy which was threatening the integrity of the wall and roof, and Matt, Kash, Michelle, Alan and Kymm all cutting back the enormous shrub. Meanwhile Emily's dream team of Georgia, Florian, Ola, Klaudia, Eloise and Kash got to work on the benches so that they can be repainted.

The minutes flew by and it was soon time to down tools. But there was just time for a silly spooky session focusing on lower body. Suffice to say there was a small delay as I struggled with technology (thank you for your help Florian) and we had to deal with a speaker which went on to (maybe appropriately) die, but we got there in the end! We took on the Monster Mash challenge, before knocking out a SIX minute plank challenge with Thriller as our theme tune! Amazing.

There are a couple of missions this weekend, including this one to spread the word about Feltham's new foodcycle and lunchtime planting with Thames 21.

Next week you'll be in the very capable hands of Lucy as I'm away, so sign up for another great session at Chiswick House right here.