On a sunny Saturday like this, what could have been better than spending the morning amongst the lush green wilderness of Horsenden Hill? A recent report by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) found that spending 20 minutes in nature each day can brings incredible benefits to our mental health like reducing stress and anxiety and improving mood, self-esteem and confidence.

Members of WWF UK, Annie, Emma, Kat and Ferozah, visited Horsenden Farm as a part of their Prescription for Nature campaign to experience a GoodGym-style workout outdoors and encourage communities across the UK to do the same.

Not everyone has equal opportunities to enjoy physical activity in nature. For some communities being outdoors is not considered the norm, for others, barriers may involve access to transport or living in a nature-deprived area. Our special guest at today's session, Haroon Mota, the founder of Active Inclusion Network CIC and the Muslim Hikers group, actively works to empower the underrepresented communities to engage in the great outdoors.

The guests and nine GoodGym regulars met Elsa, a Friend of Horsenden Hill, who prepared a unique activity: a conservation-type task! Our job was to clear ash trees and brambles in the woodland area. How cutting back vegetation is supposed to help nature, you may ask. The benefits were twofold. Firstly, clearing the area of overgrowth was aimed at promoting the growth of grasses which would become habitats for various species, increasing the biodiversity of the hill. Secondly, we were making the feed for the Horsenden cows out of ash trees.

"The cows are going to eat wood? No way!"

Challenge accepted! We served lunch to the cows, a bull and a three-week-old calf by throwing the trimmings over the fence. And how they munched on those branches! Just like us on the pizza from Horsenden Loaf we treated ourselves to after the session!

Elsa was impressed to see how much space we cleared in 90 minutes, thanks to the power of teamwork. The session in the woods gave everyone a boost for the rest of the day. It was a fantastic opportunity to connect with nature, meet new people and do something good.

If you want to join us next time at Horsenden Farm, sign up here!

Our monthly visit to Horsenden Farm included more horns than recent tasks as we were in close quarters with the Horsenden goats, Yogi and Alfie. As we had such a large group of 9 GoodGymers today, we were given 2 tasks on the farm to achieve.

Happy As A Pig In Mud

Those who were happy to work with and around the friendly goat pair were digging a trench for new fencing for the pig pen. The cunning pigs had learned how to escape from the pen that GoodGymers created last year, so an even more secure barrier had been designed. The fence was going to go under ground level and be secured in place, so a trench needed to be dug to take the fencing and lock it in place, so the new team of pigs wouldn't tunnel out.

The ground was quite muddy (as the other group would discover later) so wellies were the order of the day to keep feet dry. Everyone managed to find a pair to wear apart from Steph, who soldiered on with his custom brown Asics. The fencers worked quickly around posts, trees and their new goat friends to prepare the trench, ready for Horsenden volunteers to put the new fencing up later.

A Great Disappondment

Elsewhere on the farm, there was a plastic pond which wasn't sitting flush with the ground. Task owner Elsa wanted to dig out the dirt below and secure the basin at ground level. Once the GoodGymers emptied it of rainwater and lifted out of the ground, the team found there was more water underneath too.

After a quick assessment of where the hole needed to be bigger, shovels of sticky, wet, clay soil were scooped out. Wellies were needed again as those in the hole were shin deep in mud and frogs. Yep, there were frogs camouflaged in the mud, so Christos became their saviour, relocating them to a safe bucket during the operation.

After a lot of muscle work, it was time to put the plastic basin back in the hole, fill it with water and pack the sides with mud and hard core to keep it stable. The water filled slowly, so everyone waited. After around 20 minutes, it looked like the tub had risen out of the ground. Sure enough, there was a big puddle of water underneath again, so disappointingly the pond achievement wasn't unlocked. There may be a leak in the basin or something else environmental, it was hard to tell. Still, we had a muddy lot of fun.

Some may think that winter sessions at Grove Farm are only for the toughest kind, double-gloved and oblivious to the elements. Nothing further from the truth! Although some of us felt slightly chilly this morning, the session was a heartwarming experience - a perfect task leading onto Christmas.

The first element that made the community mission so gratifying was teamwork - just like at last month's session. Christos paired Livio and Penny with Kash to form the trimmer-rake duos to remove invasive brambles in the area where the wood anemones would grow in the sprint. With the lack of a third hedge trimmer, Sevan and Mike both took on more precise work: cutting the brambles with shears around ferns. Anna did a litter-picking round, then started carrying the trimmings with Christos deeper into the woods to build a dead hedge.

The second joyful thing about the session was the sunshine we had been waiting for two weeks - and it lasted longer than two seconds!

The third comforting piece was the break we had and the tea Anna brought for everyone. It was such a nice feeling to warm our hands by holding a steamy cup of a hot beverage.

The fourth component was a surprise birthday cake for Sevan. The treat was as tough as the birthday person himself and resisted Anna's and Kash's combined efforts to put a candle in it! Sevan managed to cut it into pieces and everyone enjoyed a slice of Biscoff-flavoured goodness.

Finally, the Fifth Element was the reward of knowing we were working behind the scenes to make the wood anemone display in 2025 a beautiful experience for all park visitors in the Spring!

Next month, we are back to the regular schedule at Grove Farm - sign up to join us on the fourth Saturday of January!

The November conservation day at Grove Farm meant resuming the everlasting war on brambles to allow the wood anemones to flower in spring. The landscape of the usual blackberry-anemone battlefield looked somewhat different than in previous years, with seemingly new vegetation sprouting.

Sevan: "Stupid question: Have those trees been here before?"
Anna: "Yes. We coppiced them 3 years ago, and now they got more bushy."

Sevan and Kash ran 8.5 km to Grove Farm from their earlier mission in Acton, stopped only by a cup of coffee in Ealing, while Penny took a combination of public transport and walking through the foresty parts of Sudbuty Hill. The GoodGymers met Anna, Mike and Olena - Friends of Grove Farm, and Sue and Fred - members of several other volunteer groups.

Penny decided on the more demanding way to cut brambles: manually, using the shears, while Sevan paired with Mike and Kash with Olena. In each of the duos one person had a hedge trimmer and the other a rake. The pairs worked in absolute harmony, the rake pulling the brambles away and the trimmer cutting through them effortlessly.

The results of the work of the entire team were excellent. A couple of similar sessions in the winter months should keep the brambles at bay and let the wood anemones bloom when the spring comes.