We had our first properly dark task of the season tonight as we helped Millie and the Friends of Cator Park neaten up foliage ahead of the annual Paws in the Park competition on Sunday. Work lights set up, Millie taught us how to scallop the bramble edge so that more of the path was accessible but we still left enough greenery for the birds and insects.

It was Elna's first task and she got stuck in with the shears straight away. We were also joined mid-way through the task by Millie's schnauzers who did a great job of supervising.

Nice job all!

Ms L takes great pleasure in the pretty shrubs surrounding her home – a very cool, council-owned eco-house! – but not when the branches get so tall that their movement triggers her security lights on windy nights. Using a step ladder, I was able to neaten the tops of all the shrubs, then I loaded the trimmings into a garden waste bin for composting. This was a quick and relatively easy task so there was time before I left for Ms L to show me the environmentally-friendly features of her home, including solar panels and large double-glazed windows to reduce energy usage from heating and lighting. As a bonus, I was happy to bring away a few of the pruned stems with colourful leaves for a vase in my own home!

Great to join a volunteer team watering saplings in Ladywell Fields tonight and I even got to wear my sailing boots to wade in the River Ravensbourne – the easiest way to fill our buckets! We gave a good dousing to all the Black Poplar trees under three years old as these are a water-loving species in need of care to ensure they grow strong, contributing to riverbank biodiversity and boosting carbon capture.

Lots is happening at Ladywell’s Tiny Forest… as well as more lovely leafy carbon-absorbing growth of the 800 mixed native saplings, there are also elderberries ripening, rose hips reddening and acorns fattening on oak trees. So there was plenty to admire when I joined the team of local treekeepers for an evening session of weeding and spot watering, focusing our attention on the smaller saplings still in need of TLC. We even found that a tiny holly nearly destroyed by accidental trampling earlier this year – nicknamed The Holly of Doom – is now sprouting new leaves at the base of its stem and looks set to recover!

I'm pretty sure it's the hottest day of the year or something, so some of us were definitely FLAGGING today.

We kicked off at the Bridge House with our top ways to cool down. Fans, iced coffee, cold showers - nice.

Then we split into a couple of groups with the blokes taking a stroll and the women doing a run to Cator Park.

Their new Tiny Forest was looking a wee bit weedy so our task was to get some fresh mulch from the piles over the other side of the park. Buckets, wheelbarrows and many shovels were used to get a good third of the new saplings surrounded.

Millie wasn't sure they were going to get the exciting new Green Flag raised without her husband, so most of us headed off, but fortunately Hannah filmed the flag raising.

Well done Friends of Cator Park and Alexandra Recreation Ground. And well done GoodGymers for playing a seriously key role in making this happen.