The thin end of the hedge

Our third visit to St Andrew's Church and Community Centre had a fabulous balance between runners, walkers and cyclists. Harvey, Sevan, Steph and Kash practised their hill running skills, setting off from Bodyline to conquer Hanger Hill, then finish with an easy downhill that took them to the church, where Christos and Alex awaited. Yes, you read that right - Alex made a surprise return to GoodGymming. Welcome back, Alex!

Seeing the transformed Pocket Allotment, where GoodGym had helped with clearing the shrubs and laying gravel, we marvelled at the lush flowers and vegetables ready to harvest. Indeed, harvest was underway as Carol, the designer behind the Pocket Allotment success, reaped the crops: kale, mangetout, beans, spinach and edible flowers, and shared them with us as a thank-you - such a lovely gesture!

The Pocket Garden appeared very well looked after and didn't need GoodGym's intervention. It was the area around the corner which needed our expertise in decimating shrubs. That's where we met John, the task owner, and cyclists: Paul from GoodGym Hounslow and Penny, who came for her 25th good deed. Well done - keep it up, Penny!

Tonight's group session had a martial arts undertone. Firstly, at the time of our task, in the community centre, young students were practising aikido. Secondly, the GoodGymers, under the watchful eye of Master John were practising choppido. Just like Mr Miyagi's students performed seemingly humble chores to unlock their karate skills, the GoodGym folk were developing muscle memory of chopping movements - so useful at our summer community missions to clear overgrown community spaces!

Unlike Daniel in Karate Kid, not convinced by his master's teaching techniques, our team jumped into action so eagerly that Kash didn't even get to take the before pictures of intact shrubs - Steph had to hold upright a little tree he had already chopped down! John had split the training session into phases:

1) chopping / trimming / pruning the hedges and trees
2) chopping the trimmings into smaller pieces
3) bagging and putting aside the green waste

Through the repetition of the chopping moves, each of us became one with their shears, loppers and secateurs. Steph earned his black belt by patiently combating a stubborn root stuck in the ground with a pickaxe. By the end of the practice, all Master John's students felt an immense sense of satisfaction when looking at the visible results of the less-than-an-hour exercise. The people inside the centre, in the room used for arts workshops, must have also seen the change as the daylight finally was back at their studio. Fingers crossed we will visit St Andrew's again soon to help with the following stage of the new green space project and see the longer-term impact, just like in the fabulous Pocket Allotment.

Next week, we are back to Lammas Orchard to keep this special community garden accessible to and usable by all. Sign up now!