The twelfth and final month of 2025 brought a dozen GoodGymers to the Horsenden Farm volunteering day. Were we surprised by such a turnout in December? Not at all! The farm continues to attract crowds of GoodGymers from Ealing and other areas. Today’s visitors were: the regular guest from Hounslow, Maxime, and a former Ealing team member, now based in Tower Hamlets, Maria. It was great to see both of them!

The task was not only an occasion for returns, but also for new beginnings. We welcomed Raji, who already knew Horsenden’s pizza and craft beer secrets, but was keen to get stuck into various volunteering opportunities, and farm work sounded pretty exciting.

Steph Ducat, Iram and Victoria were the lucky (or shall I say mucky?) ones to get the quintessential farm experience, with its animalistic element. They got to play with Nala the dog and with cow poo. Transporting barrows and barrows of manure out of the barn, they clocked in plenty of steps and built an impressive pile of... you know what!

Meanwhile, the less dirty of the dozen played explorers in an overgrown part of Horsenden Hill. Their mission: locate a ditch, clear the ditch, build a dead hedge. Simple, right? With such a big team - yes! On the forefront, several brave ones: Ash, Freya and Raji, led the expedition, and raced each other to get to the ditch. The first timer, Raji, impressed everyone by being the first one to reach the trench. Maxime and Kash widened the paths made by the pioneers, and Afshin vigorously raked the cuttings to gather material for the dead hedge.

The ditch turned out to be longer than expected, so Penny and Sevan launched two more expeditions to attack the ditch from the other side. Both reached the destination and joined forces with those already in the trenches. Result? All unwanted vegetation has been removed from the ditch and used for constructing the dead hedge. Clearing the space will help improve the drainage at one of the trails at Horsenden Hill - when we worked on that path on a very rainy day in the past, it looked like a river!

We finished the session, traditionally, with the wood-fired pizza, and were proud to support Horsenden Loaf, which otherwise didn’t get many customers in the morning. We hoped the sales would pick up in the afternoon, and now hope that the pizza oven will be on in January. Horsenden will be one of the first sessions in 2026, so if we want to include more GoodGymming in your New Year’s resolutions, sign up now!

The temperatures tonight might have scared off a few new GoodGymers, as out of eight signups, only five regulars showed up. Freya, Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash ran from Ealing Broadway to Acton to meet Maria, who ran to the task straight from the gym - she is unstoppable! It would have been great if more ladies in Acton and neighbouring towns had so much motivation to stay fit and healthy! Well, that's what this Tuesday session was about!

Action West London asked us to help distribute flyers announcing the January edition of a free health & fitness programme for women. The sessions, this time including dance classes and pelvic floor exercises, will take place at St Mary’s Church Hall in Acton and give the residents an opportunity to stay active, healthy, and connected.

Before we ventured into the streets off Horn Lane, we congratulated Freya on her 50th good deed. She got to wear the GoodGym Ealing elegant black sash, marking the fantastic milestone, ahead of claiming the famed black GoodGym t-shirt. So far, Freya has been known as a dedicated Tuesday group runner and a Soup Kitchen supporter. Who knows what new, exciting sessions the future has for her! Well done, Freya, and onto the next fifty to claim your wings!

Throughout one hour, each of us walked about 3km, and the air became colder and colder. Having covered Rosemont Rd, Mayfield Rd, Creswick Rd, Julian Ave, Shalimar Gardens and Hereford Rd, we called it a day and ran back to Ealing Broadway to warm up again.

We will be back in Acton to further spread the word about the January sessions for women in three weeks - sign up now to join us!

Next week, we will run or walk to Walpole Park to replace woodchip on the paths in the Walled Garden. Shovelling and wheelbarrowing will be an excellent way to get active and stay warm! Join next week's session here!

GoodGym Ealing never know what to expect on their regular trips to Care4Calais, from school uniform picking to wheelchair cleaning to stock shortages. There's always something different. Today, some deliveries hadn't arrived, so the team, directed by task owner Tamzin, did what they could to keep the shelves stocked and fulfil the requests of those in need.

First up, boxes of clothes needed to be shuffled around to make space, with some heading for storage to be replaced by others that were needed now. Once complete, two different tasks led to Kash and Freya heading into the stock room while Steph and Sevan worked next door.

Some items were running low due to the non-deliveries, so Freya and Kash worked to prepare bags of requests that could be completed. There were more people asking for winter coats as the weather turned and there were requests for abayas and hijabs too. By the end of the session, Freya had mastered Tamzin's the storage system... which may have changed by the next time we visit in 6 days.

In the other room, Steph and Sevan were busy sorting new donations, with bags and bags waiting for their attention. There were some much needed winter jackets, a big batch of school clothes and a selection of hats (some of them useful for clients, some of them not). There were women's clothes too, many with unusual sizing. Some labels would claim they were small and then looked enormous on Steph and Sevan.

The team powered though a good set of tasks, leaving Tamzin's To Do list a bit lighter. No doubt it'll fill up again before we return next weekend.