There's a big push going to clear the invasive Himalayan Balsam plants from the banks of the River Lea. I went to join the volunteers helping out with TCV leader Jen and found the familiar faces of Kevin, John and Barbara who are regulars at the conservation tasks around Luton.

Together we climbed down into the brook at Lewsey Park, fortunately not very wet at the moment with no rainfall and a firm gravelly bottom meant walking along it was easy. It was nice a cool in the water under the shade of the trees while the midday heatwave sun shone up above. Working along the brook we tackled clumps of balsam, gently pulling out the roots and snapping them off to ensure nothing is left behind to grow again.

We managed to clear a decent stretch of the plants before they start flowering and popping out more seeds so hopefully there'll be less here next year!

Just a team trio this evening as the hot weather and World Cup seemed to be keeping people indoors, but not us three, we had an important message to deliver to the people of Hightown about the free meals on offer from Foodcycle at Hoghtown Baptist Church every Tuesday.

Armed with flyers we targeted the houses along Hitchin road as we hadn't done these before and wanted to make sure everyone gets the message. One thing about these houses, steps to the front door are numerous! sometimes a small set, sometimes three flights, it was certainly a workout for the knees, getting up and down!

Even walking because of the heat we got round super quickly and managed to finish with plenty of time to get home and watch England win their first game of the world cup 🥳 ⚽