From hairy caterpillars to social butterflies

It was the perfect evening for doing good down by the river last night, with lovely warm conditions and a task that made a big difference to a spot loved by the local community.

After a warm up and a very in depth discussion about parkrun, we headed off on the mile run down to Kew Bridge, only to have to find a detour through the massive road works at the roundabout. We soon arrived to find Paul waiting for us with litter pickers, electric sanders and trugs.

While Harvey and Jon got to work sanding down the doorways, Pippa, Chris and Luis made a start on the litter down by the draw bridge. They soon drew the attention of passersby, who came over to thank them and let them know what a great job they were doing!

After quite a bit of plastic collected, it was Chris who spotted the dreaded balsam which was starting to take over and got straight in with a bit of bashing. It is this sort of expert knowledge picked up on previous GG tasks that may have stopped the stuff taking over the whole drawbridge just in time! Amazing work. Meanwhile Lucy and Harvey spotted some very curious creatures while they were weeding, which a bit of googling has revealed could well be a Red Admiral caterpillar - so keep an eye out for those guys fluttering past next time you're down by the river!

Next week we're going to be helping Cultivate London move a massive garden installation. Sign up here for more GG fun, and until then, run happy!