The fourth expedition to Grove Farm in search of the Unholy Grail of biodiversity - Japanese knotweed - brought together volunteers from the local area, from the far south of the borough, and even from beyond its borders. Mike from Friends of Grove Farm decided to lead the task unusually in the afternoon, due to an earlier event at the Grove Farm Nature Reserve - the Slow Worm Safari. Mike told us that only one specimen had been spotted during the event, while the expected number was ten, which wasn't good news for biodiversity. On a positive note, the sighted slow worm was pregnant, so there's still hope that the local legless lizard family will grow.

The quest to find the highly invasive non-native knotweed attracted adventurers like GoodGymers Giles and Jo, who cycled from the South Ealing and Brentford area, Sevan and Kash, who ran, also from the south, having completed two missions on the way, and Afshin, who returned for the second adventure of this kind in a row. The GoodGymers were joined by a returning explorer, Deborah, and Sue, new to Grove Farm. A team of eight resumed their travel up the Coston's Brook ditch.

The regulars knew the drill, the newbies quickly got up to speed: hedge trimmers, shears, loppers, rakes. Clear the path. Make it wider. Put the trimmings aside. Throw logs away from the trench. Do not hurt the other folks in the process.

Today's discoveries:

• Badger burrows
• A rusty shopping trolley
• A tyre
• A single wellie
• A sandbag-reinforced campsite (a secret bunker entrance?)

But all of those artefacts paled in comparison to what we discovered at the end. Even the knotweed. Oh yes, we eventually did reach the knotweed, although some of us, after three previous sessions, had started to doubt whether we'd find it this year. We left the invasive knotweed alone, acknowledging the mission's success from a distance. Then all the eyes landed on the most unexpected finding, waiting for us under the crown of a large fallen willow whose branches Mike meticulously sawed off.

It was a geocache. Afshin opened the container and found an Elvis CD and logbook with an entry from 23rd May 2005! Everything was soaked, and we couldn't reveal other pages of the notebook without destroying them. The artefact from over two decades ago now needed some drying before getting reinstalled in its location.

Meanwhile, a much younger thing that could be found in the park needed quite the opposite - plenty of water. On the way out of the woods, we visited the black poplar tree the GoodGymers helped plant in December last year and lent Mike a hand in watering it, before returning to the tool container to tidy and lock up the equipment.

On Thursday evening, the Ealing GoodGym team supported Hanwell Boxing School, a registered charity and amateur boxing club that provides affordable boxing training, fitness coaching, and structured youth development programmes for people from all backgrounds.

The group, consisting of Sevan, Giles, Kash, and Maria, met at Ealing Broadway Station, where we were delighted to welcome a new member to the team, Bilal, who arrived well prepared for the task, complete with his gloves.

Before heading to the task, the group completed a short warm-up led by Kash and set off on a run of just over 3 km. Kash split the group into two teams so everyone could run or run/walk at a comfortable pace. Sevan, acting as backmarker, ran/walked with Bilal and Giles, while Maria and Kash ran ahead to the task location to meet Scott, who cycled there, and the task owner, Linda.

Linda was very pleased to see the GoodGym team and explained the evening's task. The boxing school was preparing to welcome new members and launch new activities, so the outdoor space needed some attention. Our job was to clear leaves from the pathways and remove overgrown vine plants and ivy to make the area cleaner, safer, and more welcoming.

Linda provided all the necessary equipment, including brushes, large plastic buckets, and digging shovels. Initially, Scott, Kash, and Maria began sweeping leaves from the entrance area. When the rest of the team, Sevan, Giles, and Bilal, arrived, we divided into two groups.

One team focused on removing ivy from the corners of the site and gathering leaves with shovels into piles. The leaves were then transferred into large buckets and carried to a designated grass area for disposal, following Linda's instructions. The second team concentrated on sweeping leaves from across the pathways into central piles, making collection easier and more efficient.

As time passed, Kash began to wonder whether we would manage to complete all the work before the end of the session. However, the GoodGym team never lets its leader down. Everyone increased their efforts, worked together efficiently, and successfully completed the task on time.

The transformation was impressive. The pathways looked much cleaner, tidier, and more inviting, and Linda was delighted with the results. Seeing the positive impact of our work made all the effort worthwhile.

At the end of the session, the team made their separate journeys home. Kash, Sevan, and Giles ran back to Ealing Broadway, Scott collected his bike, Bilal headed for the bus, and Maria walked home after another rewarding GoodGym mission.

Our mid-August Tuesday evening group run was the perfect time to let women of Acton know about the upcoming final term of the Movement on The Mount, starting in September. What is Movement on the Mount, you may ask? The project is all about helping local people get more active.

Action West London runs programmes for women who may face barriers such as low confidence, language difficulties, low income or caring responsibilities. The organisers want to encourage women under 16 and over 65 coming from varying backgrounds to try free classes, including street dance, bodyweight circuits, yoga, stretching and relaxation, and many more.

GoodGym Ealing supported the programme once again, with 7 GoodGymers distributing approximately 400 leaflets around the letterboxes in the neighbourhood.

Since the theme for today was movement, Harvey, Sevan, Steph Ducat and Kash ran to the task together, Giles - sporting his new GoodGym t-shirt - ran directly from home, Maria walked, and Scott cycled. But that's not all! We also stopped along the way to tackle exercise stations, including jump squats, squat holds, wall sits and incline push-ups - all making use of the urban environment around us! The flyering itself added around 3km of extra walking to everyone’s day.

Impact

Earlier in the year, we asked Action West London to share some statistics about the women who registered for Movement on the Mount after our leafletting tasks. Here is what we heard back:

• 22% of the people who signed up found out about the programme from the leaflet
• 37% of them didn't currently exercise
• 68% were non-white
• 31% were white British
• 22.4 % were in the 45-54 age group
• 15% were in the 55-64 age group

What's coming up next?

There are more opportunities to get active with GoodGym in the coming weeks!

Thursday 20th August Getting Hanwell School of Boxing into shape 💪 Help a sports charity with the tidy-up ahead of restarting classes in September

Saturday 22nd August Volunteering at Southall parkrun led by Steph; 🧭 Explorers wanted! 🥾 Clear a path for the rangers 🌿 Afternoon session at Grove Farm

Tuesday 25th August Wee Forest, Big Problems 🌳✂️ Keep a special community garden accessible to and usable by all, led by Sevan