Brent River Park celebrates 50 years, so 4 Goodgymers got up early and ran to Hanwell to help setup in order for the celebrations to go ahead smoothly. If it was a Park run day, we would have been too early!! We meet Tom from We run Ealing who was leading a running session to start the celebrations. On arrival, we noticed that the toilets were in place and that some white markings were already on the grass surely for the spots for each gazebo/tents or stalls...but we would have needed a helicopter to see them better from the sky. Katie and Ben were a bit puzzled as some of the gazebos laid out were not supposed to be there : where do they go and where are the others as different sizes for different stalls?! The team were told to start erecting some of the gazebos at specific locations(white marks on the grass), but some needed to be moved slightly around...musical gazebos. Then Freya, Kash, Sevan and myself Steph Ducat were given a specific mission. Hey dont look here or peep...we need privy-see!! We had a tent to put up as it was going to be the tent for some of the performers to get changed. It look like an IKEA tent and needed to either follow instructions in the bag or just get on with it and set it up. Small problem as we had 3 side panels and missing the 4th one so no keeping the eyes out! We then were given a side panel from one of the other gazebos. We then found a solution to keep it ducked away with some Gorilla tape. Then come a couple of quotes from Ben and Katie :

That's beautifully.put up guys. That's a wonderful erection - Ben The worst case is that the [makeshift door] flaps around while the women are naked inside - Katie

At a later stage, the privacy tent had to be moved across the park, behind the white van and the small bushes : no nude awakening anymore. Freya and Sevan were putting up some giant easels and Sevan helped with the folding picnic benches. In the meantime, Kash and Steph Ducat decided it was time for another musical gazebo - moved it all the way down to the maze area...so down the hill, through narrow paths with nettles, below cables for the play ground swing and some low trees. We also moved tables, setup some massive metal signs for posters. moved chairs and put some weights down to keep the tents/gazebos in place. We will be back later today to undo all this.

Sunny and warm Saturday start to the afternoon and when I arrived at Mr P's house, I immediately knew I had already been here before and wondered how wild his back garden had become. Mr P said to access through the side as he already opened the back gate. Mr P got me the tools for today : plastic bags and the secateur!! The back garden had indeed overgrown with bindweed and brambles, not to forget the ever overgrowing thrown tree. Task was to cut back as mush as I could. Mr P then started to do rhymes about his overgrown garden : mentioned he was a poet. A few rhymes in, Mr P said he would leave me to my own devices and went back into the shade : was he going in to write down his rhymes?! 90 Minutes in after having 2 big piles of greenery. I bagged 10 black bags of bindweed, brambles, old wood. The garden looked less overgrown and my arms were clearly marked with small cuts and scratches. Mr P or the Poet as he nicknamed himself for the day came out and thanked me. He also nicknamed me H Steph, which he then said Hero Steph. Was this my name for his next poem?

On a hot Saturday morning, Mike took two other Friends of Grove Farm: Portia and new joiner Aaron, and five GoodGymers: Josh, Maxime, Sevan, Steph and Kash, for an adventure in the ancient woodlands of Grove Farm. The daredevils cut through the thicket to make space for the tool trolley to pass through. Would all the paths be as overgrown? Last month Friends of Grove Farm cleared a wild footpath and were hoping to continue the efforts with a bigger, GoodGym-infused group.

It was quite a shock to see two employees of Greener Ealing (Ealing Council's contractors) pressing through the paths with powerful petrol-fueled machinery, leaving open, wide paths in a matter of minutes. What would take us the whole Saturday session for those two was a piece of cake! Slightly discombobulated (as we have never seen GEL working in the same areas as volunteers in Grove Farm), we waited for Mike to make contact with the unexpected competition. The guys from GEL didn't seem to know anything about the planned volunteers' activity at the paths and didn't need help ravaging the overgrowth.

When asked for plan B, Mike took us to a hedge we had tackled last time in September 2024. The plan was to open the sightlines behind the hedge and prevent nefarious behaviours as Mike put it. While others happily clung to their chosen shears and loppers, Maxime volunteered to pick up the litter. Kash disappeared in the front, clearing the way with a hedge trimmer until she encountered a litter hotspot, which Josh immediately helped tidy up. Steph Sevan, Portia and Aaron razed the shrubs next to the hedge and built a dead hedge out of the trimmings.

When Mike mentioned an abandoned bike hiding in the nearby meadow, Josh, Sevan and Kash sensing an adventure, rushed to scout the field. To their surprise, the vehicle wasn't yet another dumped lime bike, but a crashed delivery moped! After noting the number plates, the trio took it towards the road for the council to collect.

Missed this month's adventure? Sign up for the next conservation day at Grove Farm in July here!

You are going to think its all about the famous clothing brand or for the less younger generation the famous 70's film with Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider and Fernando Rey. None of that! As I was working in GG Camden territory for the last 2 days, decided to sign up for a Friday after work mission near my work place. As I finished earlier than planned, I rang Ms F and asked if she didn't mind me doing her shopping earlier than planned. She was delighted and said to come in 20 minutes as she had 2 doctors at hers doing a checkup. On arrival, I took the stairs to the fifth floor where Ms F opened the door and said welcome and thank you for an earlier shop as she wanted to go out to the park and enjoy a bit of sunshine. She said previously on the phone that she did not do the shopping list, but we would do it together : team work!! We both sat down and Ms F started writing some items down and explaining : then she said your name is French which I replied yes. Ms F then started speaking to me in fluent French. Found out that when she was younger she went to France for an internship and became a lawyer which helped her a lot when coming back to the UK. She loved her period in Valence and enjoys speaking French when she gets the opportunity like today and said "Merci de votre gentillesse Stephane" (Thanks for your kindness Stephane). Ms F wrote some items on her piece of paper, then took some items from the kitchen which I took pictures to add to the list and most importantly gave me her Waitrose loyalty card for her active coupons so she could get her discounts. She also gave ne the cash, too much but said better have too much than not enough. She was very specific with her items and said dont worry if you can 't get them, but please try to get them and mainly wanted her Buxton water which the last shopping trips did not get as run out so had different brand. I set off to the local store and as not my usual store had to go up and down the aisles to find the products : do good, get fit - more steps in!!I got everything Ms F wanted apart from one small item as no more in store but i did not want to disappoint her so rang to see if she wanted a different item. She replied, not to worry as still had some and did not want another one especially that none of the replacements were organic. I returned with my bag of shopping and a 6 pack...of 1.5 litres of water. Rang the intercom and Ms F was having issues with it and could not hear me or open the door. I tried again and by miracle it opened just before Ms F was going to put her shoes and come down to open the door. I was back in the flat and Ms F said that they are having more and more issues with the intercom and that the management company are dragging their feet to fix them. She was "Heureuse" as I got her all the items she wanted, all coupons used and got an extra discount on one of them...saved nearly £4 on her shopping. We kept chatting in Francais of course. Time to leave and we both took the tiny old lift to go outside. I helped Ms F with the recycling of bottles as she was going down to put them in the recycling bin then walk to the park. Walked a little with her and we went our separate ways but we said our "Au revoir" and a "Bientot".