It was a lovely day for tidying the garden at Kilmorey Mausoleum, where there have been recent restoration works to the outer wall and railings. Fifteen volunteers from The Conservation Volunteers in Richmond trimmed ivy, cleared paths, cut off growth at the base of trees, restored a bird hide and disposed of three large bags of litter.

It's been two years since the Environment Trust's volunteers carried out any willow spiling on the Thames, so it certainly needed some attention.

Willow spiling is a traditional technique for protecting the river bank from erosion. In this case, the very popular footpath along the Thames between Kew Bridge and Richmond Lock.

The Environment Trust's nature conservation volunteers returned to the motorway wood at the National Trust's Osterley Park to continue improving the woodland species mix, and removal of invasive laurel plants.

Over the last couple of years, the wood has been significantly improved in terms of management thanks to our volunteers. We've removed hundreds of redundant tree guards, removed invasive plants, and planted native woodland species to improve diversity and age structure.

We'll be back on Feb. 28th 2015, so why not join us?

Over the last four years, the Environment Trust has worked with Richmond Park to clear Sidmouth Wood of invasive rhododendron plants. Several hundred volunteers have participated, including corporate volunteers from Cisco, and groups of children and teachers from the Challenge Network and Marymount International School.

Our first outing of the new year was to a favourite woodland alongside the Tolworth Brook.

A team of volunteers got stuck into coppicing the hazel and creating a dead hedge from the woodland products, as well as finally planting live hawthorn whips to creating a living hedge.

On previous occasions we've spent a lot of time removing rubbish from the nearby car park, but thankfully the closure of the associated recycling centre has resulted in a welcome decrease in the amount of fly-tipping.

It's a mystery why the annual River Thames draw off clean up is so popular, but so it was again that 35 enthusiastic volunteers were prepared to get muddy down the river cleaning up rubbish.

The volunteers spread out along the foreshore a stone's throw from Marble Hill Park in Twickenham to improve the appearance of the river close to Glover's Island.

At a glittering award ceremony held at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds on Wednesday September 24th, the Environment Trust's River Brent Eel Recovery Project was awarded as the runner-up in the Natural Environment section of the Canal and River Trust's Living Waterways Award for 2014.