Clean Up River Brent (CURB), led by Ben Morris, has been very successful in recent years in removing Himalayan balsam from the banks of River Brent. What is Himalayan balsam, and why would anyone want to get rid of it, you may ask. The plant, native to the Himalayas, was brought to the UK in the 19th century for its ornamental qualities. Over the years, it became dominant on many riverbanks across the country. If left unchecked, the invasive balsam can exclude other plants and decrease biodiversity, as it’s not compatible with species living around it. This tallest annual weed (reaching even 3 metres in height!) dies each year and leaves no roots in the soil, which does not help hold the soil together and stop silt from washing into rivers. Silt, in turn, decreases water quality by blocking sunlight from reaching the water and helping spread pollution.

CURB’s plan for 2026 was to reduce balsam in Ealing to zero, and GoodGym Ealing were excited to find a Saturday to help Ben and the team with that ambitious mission. One walker, two runners and four cyclists from GoodGym met the regular Balsam Bashers at Brent Viaduct to walk up- and downstream the river and scour for baby balsam to curb it (pun intended) before it grows and flowers.

James, Richard and Kash went with basher Rachel to visit last year’s balsam hotspots, including a vast area GoodGymers helped clear in 2025. Rachel and Kash, who had done bashing in the nearby locations the previous year, were astonished by how much the place had changed. It was so hard to find any balsam - that might have felt unsatisfying to the bashers, but at the same time, it was proof that the strategy of fighting the invasive plant was working very well. Meanwhile, Sevan and Jo went downstream and found equally low numbers of balsam. With such slim pickings, part of the team - Ash and Amy - were redirected to litter picking, as rubbish in the river seemed way more abundant than the Himalayan invader.

The whole party came together, and regrouped after 90 minutes, as it was nearly impossible to spot any more balsam - the last year’s teams did so well! Resourceful Ben, having spotted “accessible rubbish”, proposed to GoodGymers to spend the last 30 minutes of the session on a litter blitz in the shallow part of the River Brent. The GoodGymers agreed, and in a very short time, retrieved a bag of rubbish each, and hauled some soaked, flytipped duvets - what an impressive and disgusting find!

As the area has mostly recovered from balsam invasion, CURB is now planning to use its budget to buy native plants to plant in selected areas once the balsam has been eliminated. Watch this space for the future sessions with them.