On a pleasant, dry Friday morning, GoodGym Ealing held a special session with an unusually early start at 7:45 am! Harvey, Steph, Sevan and Kash changed their morning routines to make their way to an industrial estate in Acton to visit a vibrant, green oasis hidden between warehouses and repair shops.

Originally, the session was arranged to help the six wildflower beds in Acton survive – and thrive! – during the recent May heatwave. Should it come as a surprise that climate change caused a sudden change in the weather? After the hailstorms, thunderstorms and a decent amount of rain mid-week, watering the beds in the morning was no longer a priority. There was still an impact to be made, though!

The beds, now displaying a range of amazing, colourful flowers and attracting pollinators, could, if left unattended, turn into far less biodiverse ecosystems. That's why we decided to remove the weeds known to be bullies in the plant world, ready to take over space from other species – among them a couple of sycamore saplings - and also tidy up the dead grasses.

Why did we decide to travel to Acton so early, though? We were visited by BBC Radio London reporter Nisha, who had already completed one volunteering session that day – at the Thames beach in Hammersmith. Nisha not only handled a live broadcast and produced material for other platforms but also found time to roll up her sleeves and join our task – one of her five volunteering sessions that day (even our Ealing heroes don't go to such extremes!). How impressive is that!

Four minutes of fame and three sacks of collected weeds later, the team dispersed to run or walk back home, then started the rest of their Fridays with so much already accomplished!