Nuclear Fallout: 8km Mud Run with obstacles

Fundraising target achieved!

02/11/14 07:10 
Finished the mud run, phew!!! Lots of mud, some very cold water, some tricky obstacles... but lots of fun. Thanks to everyone that's supported, we're up to 65% of our target and some donations still coming in! :D

05/11/14 06:02

I still can't believe the race is over, but I've got a shiny medal to prove it hehe. Thanks to everyone that's sponsored, we've reached our target of £200. All thanks to you guys!

  

As promised, pictures from the event:

8km of muddy running, with plenty of obstacles...

Before the race: clean and smiling!

Tough going on London Clay

A mountain of haybales. Flashbacks of summer!

The Deathslide! Definitely one of the more exciting obstacles.

Mud, mud, everywhere.

Crossing the finish line!

 

Raising for Rangers

I'm taking part in Nuclear Fallout with a fellow Country Park Ranger, Nicola - this is an 8km muddy race with obstacles, in Essex. The race takes place on Sunday 2nd November (not long now!!!), and we are raising money for the Thin Green Line Foundation.

The Born Free Foundation are very kindly helping us to raise money for the Thin Green Line Foundation, the world’s only charity solely dedicated to protecting endangered species and threatened ecosystems by supporting park rangers. The Thin Green Line provides park rangers with equipment and training to assist them in patrolling on the front-line of conservation, and provide financial support to the widows and orphans of park rangers killed in the line of duty. Read more about the Thin Green Line at http://thingreenline.org.au/. We hope you will help to support them with whatever you can spare.

Nuclear Fallout is a wet, cold, muddy race around the Secret Nuclear Bunker Estate. "We’ve 60+ natural & man-made obstacles all on hilly, undulating farmland & heavy Essex Clay," says nuclear-races.co.uk. Obstacles include lakes, cargo nets, and 120 metre monkey bars. Read more at http://www.nuclear-races.co.uk/index.php/events/nuclear-fallout/.

Please help us to support this worthy cause with whatever you can spare. Muddy pictures will go up after the race!

TO DONATE:
Visit www.justgiving.com/Tom-Heenan/ or
text RNGR99 £x(the amount you want to donate) to 70070

World Ranger Day 2014

July 31st was World Ranger Day.

"World Ranger Day commemorates rangers killed or injured in the line of duty, and celebrates the work rangers do to protect the world’s natural and cultural treasures." - International Ranger Federation.

World Ranger Day has taken place each year since 2007, and many around the world take part by organising events to help commemorate, increase awareness, and raise money for The Thin Green Line (a charity "dedicated to protecting endangered species and threatened ecosystems by supporting park rangers").

Lee Valley Regional Park held a Disc Golf Challenge to celebrate World Ranger Day and raise money for The Thin Green Line. As a member of the Countryside Management Association, I attended the event with some of my Thurrock Ranger colleagues. We competed in teams of two around the new frisbee golf course (in Lee Valley Country Park, Hertfordshire), all nine holes (or baskets) of frisbee fun. At the event, Thurrock Rangers presented a cheque for The Thin Green Line, having raised £400 through a "Glowing in the Dark" glow-worm night and other activities.

I found the Disc Golf Challenge challenging, but enjoyable - although finishing with a respectable score, I managed to spend much of my time hunting for the frisbee in the long grass and scrub. This was also a great chance to see more of the Lea Valley, and meet some counterparts from Lee Valley and other parts of the country. Although the Disc Golf venue (near the White Water Centre used in the 2012 Olympics) wasn't too far from where I grew up, I hadn't seen this part of the valley before. This isn't so surprising when one considers that Lee Valley Regional Park is 10,000 acres in size, and 26 mile long!

Although the day was good fun, there was a serious message. There are over 100,000 protected areas across the globe, and many of the Rangers working to protect these areas risk their lives daily. It's estimated that over 1,000 Rangers have been lost over the past decade (IRF). Prince William, HRH Duke of Cambridge, acknowledged the important work of Rangers in a youtube video message for World Ranger Day 2014. Dr Jane Goodall also created a World Ranger Day video message this year to show her respect for the world's Rangers.

To learn more or find our how you can become involved and support park rangers on the front-line please visit:
http://internationalrangers.org/
http://thingreenline.org.au/

Lee Valley's new Disc Golf Course.

A World Ranger Day event, with various Rangers in attendance.

Nine holes of frisbee golf!

Thurrock Rangers present cheque for The Thin Green Line charity.

January News from Waltham Forest Green Gym

The Waltham Forest Green Gym will now benefit from new storage space at Lloyd and Aveling Park!

The volunteer group are now able to store tools at the site, which will help them with their work to maintain and improve the beautiful (and award-winning) park in Walthamstow, London. TCV volunteers have achieved great things at Lloyd and Aveling Park since the project launched here in August 2011, from planting and looking after new trees to building habitats for wildlife. This is a very popular site, and many people help to maintain it including Waltham Forest Council, TCV Waltham Forest, and the Friends of Lloyd Park.

 Yesterday's Green Gym session saw volunteers and staff weeding the formal gardens beside the William Morris Gallery, also well worth a visit, and then organising and inventorying the tools in the toolstore. Although the raingods blessed us with some showers, we were lucky enough to have some sunshine during the session too!

"The Waltham Forest Green Gym runs every Friday, meeting outside the Aveling Centre at 10.45am. All tools and light refreshments are provided, however volunteers should dress appropriately for outdoor work. Lloyd Park has a central pavilion (The Aveling Centre) with all necessary facilities, including a cafe, toilets and baby changing facilities."

The Green Gym is a FREE weekly session open to everyone to join. Help to take care of your local green space, get fit and have fun! If you want more information about the Waltham Forest Green Gym, visit the website or phone 020 8533 8022 (Mon-Fri) or email gg-waltham-forest@tcv.org.uk. If you don't live near Waltham Forest, there may be a Green Gym near you! Just take a look TCV's Find a Green Gym page to see where your nearest is.

...and if you like pictures of trees, take a look at Heenan Photography!

Green 2014: West Hendon Playing Fields with TCV

Continuing on from the previous post, I also returned this week to TCV's Barnet Green Gym project. I stepped in to provide cover for the volunteering session on Wednesday 8th January, as an experienced volunteer leader with first aid training, but this also helped me to contribute to my New Year's resolution for 2014 of continuing to volunteer in nature conservation. It was fantastic to reunite with the volunteer team there, and I always enjoy seeing the site at West Hendon Playing Fields as it is a large green space with so much potential for wildlife. The weather was also ideal for some outdoor work, remaining clear and dry for the session (unlike the previous day!).

Volunteers at the Barnet Green Gym enjoy the fine weather and make a difference for wildlife!

This was the first Green Gym session back at the site after Christmas and New Year, and the volunteers and leaders stood amazed upon their arrival as the recent volumes of rainfall had turned part of the Playing Fields into a lake. Luckily there was enough room to squeeze past the flooding and safely make our way to the tool shed. The task for the day was to prepare the fence-line beside the bowling green for planting of a native species hedgerow; this involved weeding and clearing dead vegetation from the area, and then digging and turning the soil. There were a few saplings hidden away in the vegetation that can form part of the new hedgerow, so this was a very positive result. The team managed to clear and prepare over 60 metres of hedgerow too which was an excellent achievement! Once this area has been planted up with native saplings, it will form a natural barrier that can be used by wildlife for food and shelter. Hedges can also allow some of the more shy species of animal to travel across the landscape, for example small mammals that might be wary of crossing open ground. Wildlife that might nest or feed in a hedge include bank voles and hedgehogs, whilst familiar faces such as the great tit and blue tit could also be found along a mature hedge.

 1: floodwaters completely obscure the path and nearly block access to West Hendon Playing Fields!
2: Lots of vegetation cleared by the hard-working volunteers.
3: A pair of Egyptian Geese enjoy the floodwater on the playing fields.

How are you doing with your own New Year's resolutions? Remember, you have more chance of success if you try to come up with small, measurable goals to help you achieve your aims! Why not comment with your progress, or tweet to @TorHeenan?

Green 2014: Walthamstow Marshes with TCV

So, following on from my previous post about New Year's resolutions for 2014 (and the benefits of green exercise or "ecotherapy"), here is a post about how I've been keeping my resolution to continue volunteering in nature conservation.

On Tuesday 7th January I headed out with TCV's Biodiversity Action Team in East London to tackle bramble at Walthamstow Marsh Nature Reserve. Although I've been involved with TCV for two years now, this was my first trip out with this particular project, and my first visit to Walthamstow Marsh. The marsh forms part of the Lee Valley Regional Park, and lying within Greater London it is a valuable space for recreation as well as for wildlife.

In spite of heavy rainfall, we made good progress with the task of cutting back bramble, and the sun made an appearance in the afternoon. Interestingly, we were working at the site of the first all-British powered flight, by Alliott Verdon Roe (founder of the Avro company) over the marsh. We were also close to the River Lea, with views of passing boats. It was great to see a new site and learn a little about its history, and the work to control bramble on the marsh should benefit a range of wildlife (which at Walthamstow Marsh includes Water Vole, Reed Warbler and Creeping Marshwort).

Walthamstow Marsh, with plenty of water in the ditches that run across the site. The River Lea
and boats can be glimpsed in the background, and beyond it the urban landscape of London intrudes.

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Take a look at the next post in the series, which talks about my volunteer work with the Barnet Green Gym!

Green in 2014

Happy New Year readers! While thinking about New Year's resolutions for myself, I couldn't help but reflect a little on resolutions generally, research a little about the word, and look at the success of the New Year's tradition.
   
res·o·lu·tion  /rɛzəˈluːʃ(ə)n/ (thefreedictionary.com)
n.
1. The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination.
2. A resolving to do something.
3. A course of action determined or decided on.


Do people still make New Year's resolutions? More importantly, perhaps, is the question: do people manage to keep them? One study in 2007 by the University of Bristol found a failure rate of 88% (although it suggests that setting small and measurable goals has more success: instead of "exercise more", you could instead aim to "go for a walk twice per week").

Frequently, goals include: improving physical well-being, improving mental well-being, making new friends, improving careers, and volunteering. This is great news for me, as I can tackle multiple goals with one fell swoop: I will continue to be involved in volunteering within nature conservation! I've been really impressed with the variety of benefits from volunteering. For someone committed to working in nature conservation, volunteering is a good way to keep skills up to date while between paid conservation jobs. There is the feel-good factor from helping to conserve wildlife and valuable green spaces. And there is an emerging body of evidence which points to the range of health benefits from "green exercise" or "ecotherapy", from reducing stress and feeling good to prolonging your life and improving your fitness - plus many people find it easier to keep up outdoor exercise such as walking or conservation tasks than exercising in a gym! I've also found volunteering to be a great way to see new places, encounter wildlife, and make new friends.

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So, how have I been tackling my New Year's resolution so far? Take a look at the next post to read about how I've been working with TCV to achieve my aims for 2014!

What resolutions do you have for 2014? Will you be making it a greener year? Why not comment with your New Year's resolutions, or tweet to @TorHeenan!