Jonathan

Saturday morning four GG runners came together to clean out the Fulham Palace moat, which (thanks to our prior efforts) had become a source of biodiversity. Personally I saw more butterflies and general wildlife in that moat than I'd seen anywhere else in London so far!

However such diversity does not come easy, and we helped ensure that the other plants were not consumed in a sea of brambles and bind weed, which have become Goodgymmers natural enemies.

A good hour or so session saw the pruning and removal of three large bags of weeds and dead matter to ensure the soil did not become too nutrient rich.

Fun tip for stopping things like nettles and that taking over, always remove dead matter before it breaks down and makes the soil too nutrient rich. Plants that can grow rapidly (like nettles and brambles) get too much of an advantage with those kind of soils.

We rounded off with the classic coffee and cake. Good job by everyone involved!

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!

Shout to Danny on a bit of Goodgym tourism; nice to see you and do come again!

Best finds from this search was more tutus and a disowned top from a hen do in 2013!

Thanks to TRAID for having us once again and looking forward to being back!

Short and sweet at Hammersmith TRAID, powering through the rails to pack up the clothes and hangers ready for next month's charity load.

As always, the hunt was on for the special treats in the depths, including several tutus and a shirt that both Jonathan and Beth posed with.

Always a fun mission, can't wait to be back!