Crouching LAGER Hidden Household Waste

It was before 11:00 when Madhan's superb ears picked up the subtle sounds of litter picking coming from behind thick bushes in the depths of Sudbury Hill. The daring GoodGymer followed the noise and found himself on a grassy expanse which used to be playing fields before becoming a somewhat wild meadow on the land managed by David Lloyd. From the thicket surrounding the shrouded grassland emerged figures dressed in blue, holding blue plastic bags. One of them held a rarely seen device: a litter-picker double the length of a regular one! It could have been only LAGER Can! Among the people in blue vests was Grove Farm's Mike who welcomed Madhan to the event and gave him a litter-picker and protective eyewear.

In the meantime, Sevan, whose superb legs brought him to the destination after a 7.5 km run, arrived at a roundabout north of Grove Farm. At first, he did not recognise Anna from Friends of Grove Farm as she was wearing blue LAGER Can colours. The deception did not fool the perceptive eyes of Kash, who appeared soon after Sevan did. A few minutes later, not seeing other GoodGymers at the meeting point, they followed Anna to the secret meadow, where they reconvened with Madhan and Mike.

Equipped with rubbish bags and litter-pickers, Team A (as Mike called the GoodGymers because Team One was already taken) entered the jungle to prey on litter that was abundant in the area.

The low branches of pine trees didn't provide much space to crouch and reach the rubbish scattered generously on the thicket floor. Sevan, after a brief play with wooden alphabet blocks to arrange the GoodGym sign, followed Anna's example and crawled into the brushwood.

They pulled cans, snakeskin shoes, broken umbrellas, Henry the Hoover's cover, XXXL pj bottoms and other objects from the bushes for Madhan and Kash who packed them into blue bin bags and transported them to the bag pile. Seeing their potential as rubbish carriers, Mike offered them a new job.

Two GoodGymers were again selected to be the muscle of LAGER Can operations and carry the bulky waste out of the alleyway behind the bushes. They didn't shun lifting wooden planks, pushchairs, doors, mirrors, TV sets, rubble and beheaded stone tortoises.

When the time came for Team A to leave, everyone gathered for the group photo so that the redshirts were not missed.

Mike had promised Kash to show the GoodGymers slow worms which are protected species in the UK. He guided them out of the meadow and lifted a metal cover hiding two legless lizards. Unfortunately, one of them looked pretty lifeless but the other gave hope that the species would still do well in Greenford.

Coming to the hidden meadow to clean up the vast amounts of waste, make new LAGER Can friends and gaze at the UK's protected species was a fun and rewarding experience. We are looking forward to meeting Friends of Grove Farm and the LAGER Can team again in two weeks at Grove Farm Conservation Day!