On a very sunny Sunday afternoon in September, when it felt like summer was making a comeback, seven GoodGymers assembled in Pear Tree Park to join a riverside path-clearing session organised by Ben from Clean Up River Brent. The event was part of Ealing Climate Week and coincided with the ActForEaling social. ActForEaling is a coalition of nature & climate groups, and GoodGym Ealing are their partners.

While some of the other organisations opted to have a stall to promote their cause, GoodGym was all about hands-on action, so we headed straight towards the River Brent for the task. With shears, loppers and litter pickers in hand, the team disappeared into the thicket, opening up the overgrown entrances and cutting back vegetation to allow safe, comfortable access for visitors. Perhaps even more fittingly for Ealing Climate Week, we also collected litter that was plaguing the sides of the path. The further west we travelled, the less obvious the route became, meandering around a dried-up stream ditch or getting swallowed up by the previous flooding.

After more than an hour of clearing and tidying the path, we returned to the ActForEaling event near Pear Tree Bistro to collect free drink vouchers and meet some familiar faces. The occasion brought together several past and present task owners: Mary from ActForEaling & Ealing Repair Cafe, Elisabeth, formerly leading Acton Litter Collective, and Trevor from Ealing Transition.

Trevor had some great news: hedgehogs had been spotted in the Lammas Orchard, so our support with building their habitat had finally paid off! If you are interested in more projects led by Ealing Transition, including energy saving, schools' solar generation, food-growing skills, beekeeping and biodiversity restoration, join Trevor's storytelling talk next Sunday morning in South Ealing.

Kash knew some of what to expect in Miss G's back garden. For Sevan it was the first time after having tidied up in the front before. Talking to Steph after Junior parkrun, Kash reminded him that it was "the garden with the fridge and brambles", which was pretty accurate.

Entering the garden, the brambles weren't as bad as Kash remembered. During the last mission, Kash and Steph had dug out the bramble roots, so today's vines looked younger and easier to chop.

Looming over the garden was a big tree from the neighbour's side which turned out to have grapes on it, making it a third food related mission this weekend for Kash and Sevan. Miss G hadn't tried to eat them, so Kash was the guinea pig and declared them tasty 😋.

Miss G's rubbish sacks were very thin, so the brambles ripped them to shreds. Sevan chopped the longer grape vines and Kash tried to line the black bags with them to protect the bags from the bramble thorns. This allowed them to pack 6 sacks by the end of the mission and the sometimes-double-bagged sacks just about held together.

The last job came when Kash discovered 2 trees growing in the narrow gap between the back fence and the other back fence 😕. Rummaging in the tool bin, Sevan found a long tree pruning saw and he was able cut and snap the trunks fairly low to the ground, with a satisfying crack!.

The 400th Acton junior parkrun (big celebration, woohoo!) brought 94 little finishers and some GoodGym legends as well!

Maria and Steph looked fresh and energetic, not indicating at all they'd just walked an overnight marathon, The Shine Walk! Congratulations both! If completing the race in 6h 19min itself wasn't enough of a feat (it was!), then how about reporting to junior parkrun duty in the morning to help set up the course? Some of you may call it craziness, we call it dedication!

Maria, with a shiny diamond still left in her hair from the race's glittery outfit, directed children into the funnel, and Steph gave the first timers a warm welcome and briefing, and then marshaled near the funnel.

Alan and Kash were the gatekeepers - marshaling at the South and North gates. Kash dealt with an emergency shoelace fix for a boy whose mum apparently hadn't heard of double knots.

It was quite a gap between the supersonic two leading girls and the tail walker, so the marshals enjoyed more time in the gentle autumn sunshine until the brand new fluffy fox tail has passed them. What a fantastic morning was it, finished with a chat over coffee!