On a mild summer evening, five GoodGymers ran 2 miles from Ealing Broadway to South Acton for a wildflower-themed scavenger hunt in an industrial area. Ayesha, Freya, Sevan, Steph and Kash had to crack a few puzzles to support Cultivate London charity in maintaining planters that had been established in collaboration with the Acton Business Improvement District. Acton BID is a not-for-profit company with a vision to make the area cleaner, safer, and more welcoming for visitors while supporting local businesses.

The BID planters, although dubbed "the Wildflower Trail", were getting a bit too wild in the summer, and Romina from Cultivate suggested they could do with a little tidy-up. The recent hot days, despite a brief rainfall last night, were not easy on the thirsty young trees, so that was another subject to tackle.

Tonight's challenge included:

1) Locating trowels cleverly hidden somewhere in Acton
2) Locating the cutest mini-shed ever

"It doesn't look like a tool shed... it looks like a birdhouse!" - Freya.
"It looks like a grandfather clock!" - Sevan.

3) Cracking a lockbox code
4) Opening a tricky padlock

(if that sounds like your recent Airbnb holiday, read on - it's a different kind of game!)

5) Distributing water from a tank fairly among trees on the wildflower trail
6) Finding pieces of litter scattered around the planters and catching them all
7) Judging what's a weed to pull out and what's a wildflower worth keeping (Romina has provided us with clues on this one)
8) Throwing two green waste bags over a fence

We've completed all the puzzles, leaving the Wildflower Trail colourful (as we spared a lot of pretty flowering plants) and tidy.

"Such a great result, thanks so much! You are brilliant guys! Well done. I am sure your help will go a long way" - Romina.

GoodGymers joined HANGOT for one of their regular summer work evenings today and soon had a sense of déjà vu. It was like they'd been at St Margaret's orchard, cutting hedges at a June work evening before 🤔.

Kash and Sevan began by refilling the water bowser at HANGOT's base. Neither had scooped water out of the canal before with buckets, but they had seen Steph do it before and remembered his technique. A few attempts later, they'd gotten the hang of it, the bowser was full and it was onto the main task of the evening.

The bushy hedges were the give away at St Margaret's orchard that brought the memories back. A wheelbarrow full of shears was waiting and Dagmar was very happy with the GoodGymers' arrival:

"Ah, we need tall people to cut the top of these hedges" - Dagmar
"I can do that" - Sevan
"...and what do the short people do?" - Kash

Well, the short people would either need to lift their arms higher or cut the sides of the hedge, so, over the course of an hour, everyone's shoulders started to ache as the hedge was returned to a manageable size.

Even the deepest, darkest corner of the orchard got some TLC. There was an area so overgrown that no one could remember reaching the opposite side of the hedge or knew what it looked like. That sounded like a great challenge for the last 10 minutes and huge branches were removed from the top level. The spiky plants held strong at chest height, repelling the chopping attacks and attempts to go deeper into the hedge. Still, the orchard was transformed in 60 minutes and was looking much neater after its summer trim.

If this sounds like fun to you, you can join us for HANGOT's next work day in July by signing up for our session on the 12th.

Three GoodGymers, Steph, Sevan and Kash, after a morning of volunteering, decided to attend an ancient wellness ritual taking its roots from the Himalayas. The therapeutic qualities of "balsam bashing" were known to Sevan and Kash. Steph had yet to experience them in his soul and - little had he known - on his skin too!

The trio met Fiona from Ealing Wildlife Group at the North bank of the River Brent in Pear Tree Park. Fiona gave them a brief for the task and rushed back to see her family for a Sunday meal. Minutes later, seasoned Balsam Bashers Rachel and Robert strengthened the team with their expertise and long sleeves and bottoms. GoodGymers (at least some of them) had read the task description and brought some protection for their bare arms and legs. Everyone quickly found out that no one's outfit was impenetrable to the stinging nettles. Nettles were enormous and as ubiquitous - if not more - as the Himalayan balsam, which was the main target for the group. The balsam bash quickly transformed into a nettle & balsam bash!

The team members went in different directions, each on their own way to find nirvana. Seeking the ultimate liberation from suffering, the GoodGymers initially suffered plenty of nettle stings, yet later on, their journey transformed into a transcendental experience. When removing the balsam by pulling it right near the ground, exposing the shallow roots, and breaking and trampling the stems that made the cracking watery sounds, all three felt a connection to something greater than themselves. While destroying the Himalayan plants, they were restoring the balance of nature that had not intended to have balsam spreading in England.

Despite the nettle stings, Steph, Sevan and Kash went into a meditative state, pulling one balsam plant after another. They could do that with no end - but they stuck with the two-and-a-half-hour task slot. Can you imagine such a long GoodGym session to remove invasive plants? Now, you have an idea about how satisfying a balsam bash could be!

After achieving so much for themselves and the biodiversity of the River Brent banks, the GoodGymers were ready to end their spiritual journey with a jog home. But Rachel had one secret to reveal: the Himalayan balsam worked well as a soothing balm for nettle stings - just like aloe vera! Enriched with that piece of transformative knowledge, everyone rubbed broken balsam stalks on their nettle-stung skin and felt immediate relief and a sense of relaxation. What a way to finish the day of Sunday missions!

Five GoodGymers met four Ealing Greenwayers near the Perivale Park Athletics Track for their last summer event this season. It was not a race or a competition. Two teams worked together against the ivy that had swallowed the fence between the track and the car park in Pear Tree Park. To make the job safe, the Greenwayers marked four parking spaces as out of order with a stretch of barricade tape and a few cones. That setup, together with Richard's Walpole Park Volunteer hi-viz, must have made us look like a legitimate force to be reckoned with.

A thick coating of ivy was covering everything: the fence, the soil, and even more layers of ivy - can you imagine that? We didn't even know where to start, but with a team of nine, we could begin in several places at once! Shears, loppers, forks, spades and saws were in action. Thanks to the team's relentless effort and Richard's mastery of ad-hoc tool-sourcing, an incredible amount of ivy was removed and wheelbarrowed into a hidden ivy graveyard behind a hedge.

"A totally superb Goodgym onslaught today, thanks so much. It will now be possible for Greener Ealing staff to tidy up and lay woodchip. We've made their job so much easier." - Richard.

We are taking a strategic break from the sessions with the Greenwayers for the remaining two summer months - but worry not! We may do an odd session to support Pear Tree Park by the River Brent - as we did later today, bashing the Himalayan balsam. We are also looking forward to reuniting with the Greenwayers in September, during Ealing Climate Week - sign up for the occasion now!

Extra session this month at Pitshanger Juniors Parkrun : 4 Goodgymers went to cheer 89 runners today. Sevan was marshal at position 3, Jacquie and Steph Ducat were marshals at position 1 while Kash was on bar code scanning. Today was a special day for several reasons . To start brand new tokens appeared on the table ready to be given out. to the finishers. Today Kelvin was run director, but it was also his birthday : did we get cake you would ask!No we didn't!!But Kelvin brought jelly babies to be given out to all the junior runners at the finish line. All the finishers enjoyed the jelly babies and they were not the only ones. Did this make some of the runners go quicker to be sure they get a jelly baby. Most volunteers also had jelly babies. Kelvin still had some left and would bring them next week. We had 89 finishers today and the new tokens were handed out. Token number 58 disappeared and went missing - not the first time a token gets lost or taken back home, but its not the first time for the number 58 to disappear. Will it come back next week?

One of the regular marshals Malcolm completed his 99th volunteering session today - next one will be the big 100 !!!