It's been a season of shears, loppers and secateurs in action, particularly at our Tuesday sessions supporting the William Hobbayne charity in Hanwell. Only a week ago, we had cleared a footpath at Half Acre Woods, and now we were back at the Community Gardens to finish off the job we started a month ago - clearing an overgrown area to make room for a new community space.

To reach the Community Gardens, Sevan, Freya, and Harvey ran 3 km from Ealing Broadway. Nishy, Jamie, and Jamie tried to find their way to the task, coming from the canal and getting stuck (thanks, Google Maps!), but were fortunately discovered by Kash and Harvey before they lost hope. Chris, a regular at Hobbayne's sessions, had more luck (or experience) finding the entrance, where Anna, today's task owner, awaited with the tools.

It was the first Ealing group session for Jamie, who was glad he didn't have to work in extreme heat, unlike at his first-ever GoodGym task. GoodGym Ealing not only booked a nice breeze for today but also perfectly dodged the evening rain. We are really good at ensuring top working conditions! Welcome, Jamie - we hope you enjoyed the weather, the task and our company! We're looking forward to seeing you again on another occasion.

The brambles we had removed in June from the overgrown area hadn't started properly growing back yet, so it was an excellent opportunity to clear the other half of the future community space. There was serious hype built up after our previous task in the gardens as we had found a canoe paddle, a tennis ball and a shed hidden in the brambles. This week's findings seemed less exciting.

Kash: "What did you find in the brambles? Anything interesting?"
Freya: "More brambles."

Sevan found particularly long bramble stems that made quite an impression on our newest team members. Little did they know, they'd be pulling equally intimidating blackberry plants themselves if they stuck to us. One of the Jamies already upped his GoodGym game, trying out a new tool: a small slasher to cut through the jungle. He'd love the larger slashers we used for chopping nettles and brambles near Pear Tree Park!

West London brambles are particularly nasty with their oversized, sharp thorns. They were a cause of many ouches today. We all have been bramblestruck! To alleviate the pain from the scratches, Nishy thoughtfully brought us a snack to enjoy at the end of the session: popcorn. Thank you, Nishy! While the real reward was seeing the whole garden space finally cleared of overgrowth, we enjoyed the gift from Anna: freshly harvested radishes from the allotment.

Next week, we are heading towards a different part of the borough. Sign up now to join us for a leaf sweeping and collection task at a school in Acton.

The second Tuesday of July saw four GoodGymers assembling at Bodyline Fitness in Ealing Broadway for a run to Hanwell, led by Steph Ducat. Today's run leader was joined not only by the regulars: Freya, Harvey and Sevan, but also by a special guest, Bassam Mahfouz. While not everyone might know that Bassam is a keen runner and a volunteer, many residents recognise him as a Member of the London Assembly for Ealing and Hillingdon, currently focusing on matters such as environment and transport. When the five ran through Ealing, every time they stopped, someone said hello to Bassam.

The team arrived at Wharncliffe Viaduct to meet the task owner Dee from the William Hobbayne Charity, who looked after the Half Acre Woods. Kash, who walked to the task, was already there. Dee, concerned about the mosquitos lurking in the woods, offered the GoodGymers an unassuming lotion in spray, reportedly used by the Forest School people to repel insects. We think the mysterious mist has worked as by the end of the task, we've earned only plant-based stings from nettles.

Today's job was the summer classic task - something we had done almost exactly a year ago - cutting back the overgrowth on the path along the viaduct. Harvey and Steph tackled the brambles and nettles encroaching on the entrance to the woods from the Station Approach road, and Bassam, Freya, Sevan and Kash dealt with the growth on the River Brent side. Dee swapped shears for a litter picker and collected cans, bottles and even dog poo bags revealed by the chopping squad.

While we worked to widen the path, passers-by genuinely appreciated what we've done. Walkers, runners, parents with a pushchair, and an exceptionally grateful cyclist enjoyed using the path, no longer worrying about being caught by a rogue bramble. Even without all the thank-yous we heard, we could tell that in just one hour we were making a visible difference in the local community.

Next week, we will be back in Hanwell, again helping the William Hobbayne Charity with cutting back undesirable plants. Don't worry, the brambles and nettles in the woods won't grow back that fast. We will be tackling the area we started clearing last month in the Hobbayne Community Gardens. Join us next week!

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.

It was very busy. Jacquie spent the whole time in the kitchen. Helped Arul with a stir fry - beef or tofu as a vegetarian option. It went down a storm! Lots of empty plates and seconds. Freya was serving hungry guests.