When a pair of Ealing GoodGymers walked to their afternoon task in Greenford, Kash immediately recognised the unforgettable hedge of eternity on the way - a 100-foot green monster she'd trimmed last year. Kash was pleased to see that the hedge, although still insanely tall, was maintained well enough not to cause trouble for pedestrians and cars parked next to it.

Now, what awaited Sevan and Kash at Mrs E's and her husband's place, who happened to live a few metres away from the Hedge of Eternity? Were the monstrous hedges the norm in the area?

The Sunday afternoon mission beneficiaries were a couple in their eighties who used to care for their front and back gardens, but were no longer able to do so due to their declining health. The back garden was seriously overgrown, but Mrs E was most anxious about the front garden and the impact of the uncontrolled growth of plants on the neighbours.

Kash, with the assistance of Mrs E's husband, fired up the heavy petrol strimmer and started trimming tall grass in front of the house. The smell of burnt fossil fuel made her think about how many new trees she should plant to offset all those greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, the weight of the power tool, the heavy vibrations in the arms and the impact on the older couple's wellbeing felt good.

Meanwhile, Sevan didn't have as intense an experience with his tool in the back garden, where he was cutting back the tall weeds at the house wall with shears. Occasionally, he would pull some roots by hand to prevent regrowth. The shears were not perfectly aligned and a bit blunt, but Sevan persevered with his task. On a positive note, he got to hear stories from Mrs E and her husband, who sat at the entrance to the back garden. Sevan also had a more frequent supply of cool water from the lovely older couple than Kash did in the front.

After Kash raked the grass with a huge rake ("This size would be perfect for a tennis court!" - Sevan), she came to the back to take Sevan's shears. Even though they weren't sharp, at least the shears were more effective than smaller secateurs against larger clusters of weeds. Sevan persevered no matter what and continued his work with the smaller cutters.

In the meantime, Kash did a speed trim (as speedy as she could with rather blunt shears) of two parts of Mrs E's hedge that stuck out the most. So there were hedges after all! Mrs E joined Kash this time for a chat and revealed her impressive past as a volunteer and a member of the neighbours watch for a few decades!

Sevan came to the front to help sweep the cuttings and pack the green wheelie bin to the brim with garden waste. Mrs E was very happy to see the bin loaded as it had already been paid for, but no one was fit enough to do the weeding, trimming and strimming to fill it.

There is more work to do in both front and back gardens for Mrs E and her husband, so now the Ealing GoodGymers are looking forward to a follow-up mission for such a nice older couple.