An offer she couldn't refuse

Sevan and Kash had tried hard to line up their missions for the weekend, which wasn't easy with the older people not answering the phone calls and the British weather being all over the place. Mrs N, living near Hanger Lane, was the last chance for Sevan to close the week with a meaningful impact on an older person's wellbeing. Mrs N needed her back garden put back into shape.

The GoodGymers ran from Acton, where they enjoyed the usual post-junior parkrun coffee with friends from GoodGym Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham. After the cosiness of the café, they faced the reality and a wall of rain that emerged between them and the task. The shower wasn't anything unexpected and off-putting. It wasn't also the only obstacle. Mrs N, turned out, didn't expect GoodGymers to show up. In fact, she was convinced they were supposed to call her the day before to confirm the task, which Sevan and Kash had no clue about. As a result, Mrs N hadn't borrowed tools from her sister and was not prepared for the task to go ahead.

It was time for negotiation. Without the tools, the big job in the back garden was off the table, however, the weeds at the front of Mrs N's house looked feasible to pull by hand. Mrs N indeed wanted to get rid of the weeds from the paving but felt bad letting Sevan and Kash work in the soggy conditions. The GoodGymers didn't mind the rain and hoped it would subside shortly. They also pointed out that rescheduling a GoodGym mission to another day involves a little bit of process. Mrs N agreed to the task in the front garden to go ahead under the condition she would make something nice for the volunteers like coffee and biscuits. Now that was a win-win deal!

Mrs N brought the GoodGymers some sort of tools: secateurs to trim a rose bush and two curved knives. After finishing with the weeds on the paving, Sevan and Kash started wrapping up and moving the green waste to a designated pile. That's when Mrs N showed up again and brought coffee and biscuits. It was almost time to pack up. Having treats on the metaphorical table, Mrs N asked if the GoodGymers could weed the path leading to the house. Now, after seeing the quality of GoodGym services, she wanted more of the good stuff. And now she had the upper hand in the negotiations. Sevan and Kash spent the last five minutes speed-weeding the path and coffee-chugging.

The 90-minute session was complete and the front garden looked much more presentable. Hopefully, with better weather and planning, GoodGym will be back soon to tackle the challenge in the backyard!