All very efficient today - the friendly pharmacist was expecting me and I soon had medicine bag in hand - the biggest challenge was to then avoid the passing showers and puddles (and a large number of learner bus drivers out on the roads) en route to the drop off at Mrs S's front door, for which I was glad I'd discovered a few short cuts...

Our compact team took to the streets of Canning Town to spread the word about Cody Dock’s “Lighting Up the Lea” Open Day—an event that takes place across not just one, but three festivals: Open House, Totally Thames, and Newham Heritage Month. Armed with flyers, we were on a mission to spark curiosity and draw in the crowd. The event is always fantastic, and we’d highly recommend a visit—check out all the details below!

When:
Saturday, 20 September 2025, from 11 am to 6 pm

Where:
Cody Dock, 11c South Crescent, Canning Town, London E16 4TL

What to Expect:
Free activities, workshops, exhibitions, performances, and new installations. Tours of the Cody Dock Boatyard and Frederick Kitchen restoration and a chance to explore the site’s arts, ecology, and heritage offerings.

Here’s the Cody Dock event page with full details: codydock.org.uk

Next week we're back at Emmanuel Church, this time to put our painting abilities to the test - sign up here.

A return visit to Emmanuel Church to see the wonderful team.

Sybil had planned for us to start the digging of the new flower bed but due to how warm it had been the ground was too hard but as always she had a plan b.

Digging in the already established beds for some new planting and prune back the over hanging tree branches and remove the low shoots.

I was asked to check out a task for next month....painting the room we helped clear last year.

Pruning and digging complete we headed in side for some refreshments....

Next week is a visit to Cody Dock for leafleting to let local residents know about the upcoming event Lighting up the Lea

A repeat medicine bag pick up and drop off for Miss S from the Royal Docks Pharmacy - I even remembered the shortest route this time, so all went exactly as planned.

We made out way to see Ange at Hackney Marshes after double checking she would be there after missing her last time.

They had a delivery of some very long poles which had a mixture of letters on or had been left blank.

Ange told us about the up coming building projects to replace so of the well loved equipment.

With clear instructions of where each pole need to go Adam Paul Nick and Kevin got to work on moving the poles.

I had an extended catch up with Ange who took me to see the project the older children are building with a local group,they have designed and are now helping to build a climbing tunnel and jump platform.....sadly not as high a s the children wanted it to be but Ange has to follow H&S law.

The guys did an amazing job and meant lots of poles ready for the children to paint.

Next week its a visit to Emmanuel Church and this time we will actually get started on the flower bed

Ten of us assembled tonight for a return to Care4Calais East London, this time to help them move out of their storage space. Over the winter and spring we’ve got to know this place well — a jumble of coats, shoes, sleeping bags and other essentials that make their way to refugees and asylum seekers in need.

True to form, the evening began with the classic Care4Calais conundrum: what exactly are we meant to be doing? A couple of detective-like phone calls to long-standing volunteer Andy gave us a few clues, with some further reliance on instinct and common sense. Before long we were stacking, bagging, and squeezing items into boxes and bags ready for them to be loaded into a van and shipped elsewhere.

By the end, the place looked pretty different — something closer to neat piles than to chaos and I'm confident we’ve saved Care4Calais' volunteers a whole lot of time and effort in our short stint there.

Massive congratulations to Chris for hitting the 50 good deed milestone (well actually 51 now... and thanks for bringing the sweet treats!)

Next week, we're off to Hackney Marshes Adventure Playground and can't wait to see what Ange has lined up for us.