On Monday evening five GoodGym runners from Hounslow and Hammersmith and Fulham joined forces for a Community Mission in Central Hounslow. This was our first visit to Jamia Masjid and Islamic Centre, the largest purpose built mosque in West London, and we made a good start helping to transform the gardens.

The task owner Ruby has ambitious plans to reinvigorate the gardens around the mosque, which is very much a hub in the local community and beyond, welcoming 500 people daily for prayers and over a 1000 at weekends. Her vision is to create a peace garden for all of the community to enjoy in times of need at the back, and plant flowers in the bed at the front to create a bright outlook by the road. A passionate advocate for young people, Ruby is working with partners including Hounslow Council and the volunteer sector to build a playground and an area for young people to meet, keeping them safely off the streets.

Our mission tonight was to dig out the gardens around the perimeter of the mosque - trying not to let our fingers go completely numb in the process. Ruby explained the big job ahead of us, where it was quicker to point out the few plants that she wanted to keep rather than the ones that had to go!

It's not often that missions give you permission to rip trees out of the ground, and in a bid to stay warm we enthusiastically dug in with our array of forks, spades and tools. Ruby cheers us on as we worked, keeping us company, motivated and fed with tips and guidance!

"Stand on top of the tree and pull it over"

Despite some deep roots, mesh netting under the soil and some very confused looks from strangers, we spent a very productive hour clearing an impressive area of ground, and building a big pile of unwanted plants!

Dragging the rubbish away (and sweeping up some of the soil left on the pavement), we stepped back to admire the newly cleared space. Ruby is planning to plant out the area with an array of red plants to brighten the outside area.

The Jamia Masjid community gave us a really warm welcome (despite the weather!), and we could see several areas where another mission would really make a difference. We’ll be returning to the Mosque on 8th February to complete the second part, creating the peace gardens for visitors to relax and reflect in.