'Fungi to be with' was formed in the early 1990's by myself Andy Overall and Miranda Gavin, who having played an important role in helping set up F.T.B.W, is no longer involved.

F.T.B.W. was created to fulfill a role that up until that time and even now is scarcely covered. That role was to help the interested people of Greater London and the home counties, with an emphasis on fungi, connect/reconnect with the natural environment surrounding them.

When I first became interested in mushrooms, during the 1980's I took it upon myself to begin the long process of getting to know these unusual organisms. Following my initial forays into the fungi world I realised the need for 'fungi to be with'. "How many other people, like me, were looking for an introduction to the mushrooms that they came across whilst out walking?"

Some ten years or so on 'fungi to be with' is now affiliated with the British Mycological Club (BMS)and is recognised as the longest standing, London Fungus Group. Some of the collections of fungi, made by foray attendees and myself, are deposited at the herbarium in Kew Gardens. Species lists are drawn up following each foray, which are then given over to the governing bodies of the areas in which the forays take place, providing an ongoing record of the fungi that occur or re-occur in those areas over time. Recording began in 1996 and the successful continuation of these records have been helping to produce a clearer picture of the distribution of fungi across the home counties and in London's parks and woodlands.

Check out the LFG database for Hampstead Heath, via the link below, which arose to 433 species during 2007.
Click here for the FTBW fungi records of Hampstead Heath 1997-2007.