8 goodgymers braved the heat to come to Columbia Primary school and put some proper elbow grease into Monday's task.

Thanks to Ingrid who kindly provided gloves and equipment. Shout out to Ed from down the road who lent us a few extra spades.

A very warm welcome to Alex for coming along to his first task.

Enter the Sandmen: Chris, Kareem and Alex who got to work clearing out the sandpit which had become full of toys. Once this was done they emptied out as much of the sand as they could, which Ingrid wanted to save for future use, into bags.

Emma joined us (once she managed to find the right entrance) and was hired on the spot to be trolley team leader. The job description was moving sand to the garden down the road. It involved navigating a busy cycle super highway and not mowing down pedestrians (mainly ourselves).

Ilana, Sam and Anna were the planter posse. This industrious team emptied out the soil from two worn out wooden planters. Once completed, they came in like a wrecking ball and forcefully dismantled the planters. The way Anna kicked the planters down suggested a serious background in martial arts.

We all came together in the end to tidy away the wooden shreds of the planters and do a general sweep up of the soil.

An amazing effort by everyone involved

Writes Fiona,

We headed to a local primary school in Bethnal Green to help out with some much needed tasks.

Upon arrival the group split in two with the indoor volunteers in charge of cleaning carpets.

Not just your average carpet but those colourful corners where the children sit everyday to read and learn!

It was quite the workout for a Monday evening as we went from room to room spraying and vacuuming with our special machines.

Meanwhile the outdoor team...

Writes John

John, Martin and Rohan peeled off from the main gang to perform the standard GoodGym task – shovelling and wheelbarrowing.

There was a difference this time though: all the wheelbarrows were in perfect working order.

We had to push the wheelbarrows to a park, shovel woodchip from a pile there, and transport it back to the school garden (which wasn’t at the school, actually). Rumours that we were actually stealing the woodchip from the park were swiftly rebuffed.

John and Rohan made numerous trips, wheeling the heavy woodchip to the garden, where it was deposited on cardboard to prevent weeds growing underneath.

Martin, meanwhile, took on the vital task of preventing anyone in the deserted park stealing the shovels while we were away wheeling.

Eventually, we returned to the school in our muddy trainers, but miraculously we avoided mucking up the newly-cleaned carpets.

Tonight's pun also courtesy of Fiona :)