Scouting for Litter in Alperton

The LONGEST Brent Run Yet! Tonight's task was an 8-mile round trip to help out our friend Jay at the 3rd Wembley Scout Group, with a variety of indoor and outdoor tasks.

Claire got a chance to put into practice what she had learned on the Leadership in Running Fitness and GoodGym training as our lovely usual run leader Ellie couldn't make it tonight. Claire was joined by Laura and Hannah , both fresh from half-term, in the cosy Queensbury. A bit reluctant to leave the warmth of the fire, they set off at 7pm sharp and found Josh on his way up the hill to the meeting point - just in time or all he would have found was our trail of dust as we headed off on the new and slightly longer route to Alperton. This one was great practice for Laura's upcoming half marathon, with just under a month to go, she has really been getting the miles in.

We were greeted by Jay, Sadhana and Isabelle on arrival and gulped down a cup of squash to help recharge our batteries in preparation for the tasks. Sadhana showed off her war wounds from last week's dramatic fall, but we were glad to they weren´t enough to stop her from doing good :)

We had a choice of indoor and outdoor activities tonight so we split into two groups, with Sadhana and Hannah sweeping and mopping, and Laura, Isabelle and Claire clearing away branches and building a bonfire pile. <And what was Josh doing meanwhile, I hear you axe yourselves...? Well, he was showing some stubborn tree stumps who was boss and breaking them into splinters.

Once the shrubbery was in hand, it was time to set about litter picking 'no ifs, no butts well, actually there were plenty of butts - of the cigarette variety! We really blitzed the place, and went back inside to catch up with the indoor crew, and couldn't separate Sadhana from her bucket and mop until she had the entire floor sparkling like a new penny! We said goodbye to Jay and set off into the darkness, back to Willesden Green, to the sound of screeching tyres, revving engines and car and bike fanatics lining the streets to watch what can only be described as CAR-nage on the North Circular. It was a relief to get away and breathe the fresh-ish air of Willesden again.

The small but mighty Brent team came, saw(ed), mopped, swept, piled, picked, ran and conquered another untamed patch of London, well done everyone!!!