We were in high spirits last night at our group run as it was the first time in months we met in bright evening sunlight. Couple that with the fact that we had some great racing last week (well done Florian and Steph!), the promise of a new task at Duke's meadow, and with lots of the group off to Paris for a weekend of marathons and croissants, everybody was in fine form!

We set off through the beautiful grounds of Chiswick House, and soon arrived to find Jo from Wild Chiswick waiting for us with all the tools we needed for the job. Duke's Meadow is run as a trust and over the years it has created fabulous play areas, planted hedgerows, wildflower meadows and an orchard to increase the bio diversity of the park. The trust is a social enterprise focused on sustainability and volunteers maintain the area.

Our job for the evening was to cut down the cherry tree suckers that have sprung up around the more mature cherry trees. This new growth saps energy away from more essential components, particularly fruit-bearing branches or foliage, and spread outwards rather than upwards thereby taking up space for other plants. Without wasting any time we snipped away and cleared the branches for collection, happily working away under a falling blanket of blossom and sky bursting with sunset colours.

In just a short amount of time the difference was clear, so we packed up our tools and made our way back across the field. Great work everybody. By the way, if you notice a notable improvement in the quality of some of the photos this week, you can thank Michelle and Lucy for an upgrade on my efforts with some lovely snaps! Next week we're at Cavendish school to do some more work on the nature area. Looking forward to seeing you then.

Happy running Paris racers!

It was a night of hellos, farewells and celebrations last night at GoodGym Hounslow!

First off we welcomed Gus to his first session - so great to have you join us. Sadly we also learned that it was to be Maddy's last session with us (for now) as she's returning to sunnier lands. We'll miss you Maddy, send us an invite when you get GoodGym Brisbane off the ground!

We were also bidding a sad goodbye to Pippa, who is off to join GoodGym Brighton, but not before she made a perfectly timed exit with her 100th good deed. Great to see you'll be taking your wings tshirt with you, and come back and visit soon!

With so much going on we had a big group for the evening, which was just as well as we had a big task to match! After a warm up we set off for Gunnersbury park, where we were helping the wardens there clear some areas where brambles had been cut down to make way for grass and trees.

We soon claimed our fleet of wheelbarrow, donned the thick gloves provided to deal with the spiky brambles, and headed off into the dark to find our job for the evening.

The machines the park had used to clear the areas had left loads of cut brambles which they had asked us to tidy up, so we set to it. Talking about the races of the past weekend (well done Harvey, Alan and Steph!) we filled ton bags full of debris, only pausing to gently move a giant bumble bee who had made a home in it.

After a good stint we moved all the bags over to the path and made our way back to base. I've already had an email from the park warden Lizzy thanking the team for your hard work, so well done for all the efforts.

Next week we have a new task helping to tidy up a community centre's outside space. Hope to see you there!

It's been a little while since we were last at Cavendish school, so it was great to be back last night. The long term plan has been to transform a pond area next to the school into a wildlife learning space for the kids, but the project has been stalled. However new caretaker Andre has joined the school and is keen to get it cleared and safe to use asap, which is where we come in!

So after a nice steady run to the school, followed by the inevitable struggle to get access (GG Hounslow's success with locks and codes is not unblemished!) we met with Andre who gave us our instructions. They mainly involved an enormous skip positioned helpfully right next to the garden, and an even more massive pile of leaves. The idea was that one was deposited into the other, with the aid of some big brown bins. On top of this, the pond had to be de-scummed and some bin bags dispatched.

We immediately jumped into action, with Emily and Stefan raking the pond surface, Chris immersing himself in the skip, and the rest of the group tacking the wet leaves.

It truly seemed like the leaves were multiplying by the minute, but after half an hours hard work, there was definitely a significant dent.

We waved goodbye, and set off for Turnham green by foot and two wheels for our fitness session. We tried something new last night, a drill which focused on acceleration and pace. The tic, tac, toe element proved somewhat challenging, not helped by the dark conditions, but before long heads and tails were chasing each other across the grass. We finished off with an incremental acceleration around the loop, and some much needed stretches.

Great work everybody! Next week we're off to Gunnersbury park see you then.