It might have been a Bank Holiday, but it was still a Monday, so GoodGym Tower Hamlets were in action, albeit rather earlier in the day than usual.

We returned again to the gardens around Glasshouse Community Centre, where as usual Catherine had lots for us to do, ably assisted by her ever-keen son Liam.

Long-term GoodGymers Eilidh, Heather, Johnny and John were joined by relative newcomers Vlad, Lobo, Grit, Oliver (doing his second Good Deed and he’s already tried two areas!) and Isobel, on her first ever task before cycling down to Blackheath. Welcome Isobel!

Johnny worked hard even though he was still recovering from a five-hour Tough Mudder which his family had "kindly" bought him as a present.

Several tasks were undertaken. Nearly a hundred geranium, verbana and tomato plants were potted, weeds were removed from flowerbeds and new vegetation introduced, while wheelbarrows of soil were wheeled around the estate before depositing their load onto the beds.

Meanwhile we also trimmed the flower baskets on the glasshouse itself, which used to be looked after by a resident who’s now left the estate. And we saved the life of a huge worm!

We were away before lunchtime, but we’ll be back soon to help with much-needed summer watering, Watch this space!

The Parkview Estate is a large estate sitting on the border of Victoria Park, the resident's association is preparing to hold a Free Plant Giveaway on July 10th!

I helped Catherine with hand planting strawberry seedlings from a tray into bigger pots to be given away. Liam, and other members of the TRA planted out petunias and geraniums.

The estate is home to a lot of busy families and many elderly residents, who will appreciate a free plant next week!

Heather, Sara, Asad and Emma were joined by Catherine and Liam, GoodGym’s youngest member (at 9 1/4 years old), for an hour and a half.

It’s been rather hot and dry recently which meant lots of thirsty plants that needed tending to.

Many buckets and watering cans were wheeled all over the estate to take care of the young trees , flowers and vegetables.

Many, many questions were asked by Liam and answered spectacularly well by all. Asad also introduced the concept of evil wizardry, spell casting and potion-making in the form of HarryPotter’s arch nemesis Lord Voldemort.

Emma, Áine and Simon met with local volunteer Kelsey to deliver this issue of the Park View and Cranbrook Estates Climate Action Newsletter.

We thundered up and down the various tower blocks with newsletters and leaflets advertising an upcoming event.

It was a sunny day and we all enjoyed delicious lunch at the Refuel cafe afterwards to chat about life 😎.

Well done team!

On a glorious GoodGym Saturday a smashing squad of 12 of us met at picturesque Parkview for a typically varied set of fun tasks to help their exemplary estate. The sun was shining and everyone was in excellent spirits and we have a most enjoyable hour and a half together ☀️

We were met by the dynamic Catherine, along with her partner and son Liam, who kicked things off for us by laying out the tasks to get us underway and then were always on hand to provide support, guidance and kneeling pads (thanks Liam!) throughout the lunchtime session.

I joined Alex and Becs in the unloved garden for a fast and frenzied weeding session. Fortunately, the weeds were delightfully easy to wrench out of the soil and with some judicious use of the forks to uproot anything a little more tricky we absolutely transformed the patch ready for some roses to be planted there in the coming weeks. It was an action packed endeavour as we raced to get the whole patch cleared, and with one ill-timed dispatching of weeds over the fence into the bin as a gust of wind swept through the estate leading to a load of soil being flung at a nearby, unsuspecting Becki who also took a load of soil to the face leading to some furious eye rubbing by us both. Whoops!

Alex and Issy were in the lovely community garden potting acorns which will hopefully blossom into full blown oak trees for the estate and wider community to enjoy 🌱

Ceiling and Jenny were tasked with watering and they did such a good job that they not only managed to water all the saplings but they themselves got a great showering too! 🚿 After a solid dousing in the sunshine they also swooped in to help with the acorn planting too 🌲🌲🌲

Fiona was back again in her element weeding the area she'd helped cultivate on her last Community Mission at Parkview, and was joined by Isabelle who between them made such a difference in the area helping the lavender to thrive as an essential part of the ecosystem in the estate.

Upstairs is the iconic Glasshouse, Curtis and Heather were doing their best long-rubber-armed Mr Tickle impressions leaning out of the windows to clean up the window boxes with some extensive dead-heading. From my vantage point I very much enjoyed the transformation as the dead flowers were removed leaving those remaining to shine and really brighten up the building exterior 🌹 🌺

Laura was, as ever, flitting about doing a million amazing things, helping out wherever she went as she collected some spectacular photos of the group and spread joy to all of us. Particularly notable was her dedication to getting the best photos by sprawling on the floor to ensure she got a flattering image for the group photo at the end.

As we wrapped up, a few of us rewarded ourselves for our good work with a trip just round the corner to StreetEat in Victoria park to enjoy a cool drink in the sunshine 🍻

Special mentions

• A massive welcome to Curtis for his first ever GoodGym task, with a big thanks for Alex for bringing along his best friend in the world to see what GoodGym is all about. We'd love to see you again next time you're around, and hope to see you picking up where you left off back in Chelmsford.

• It was also great to welcome back relative newcomers Heather and Issy for their second and third good deeds respectfully. Looking forward to you becoming a big part of the group!

• We were very spoilt to be joined by communications supremo Becs who took some absolutely wonderful photos of us all for this report. Thanks also to her quick wit in the face of adversity (windswept soil) we also have a brilliant pun too! 📷

• It was a delight to welcome Alex from neighbouring Hackney for her first even Tower Hamlets adventure - can't wait to have you back again with us Alex!

• We were also honoured to host Jenny all the way from Croydon. That's real dedication on a Saturday and you were a real whirlwind of joy and we would love to see you again.

• Ceiling is absolutely smashing it in August having done her 14th good deed this month - you're an incredible addition to the group! Keep up the good work.

• Close behind her in good deeds for August is our latest addition to the Task Force Alex who has done so so much for us in his first month with us 😎

7 very hardy heroes showed up today despite the rain, and in some cases going a considerable way to turn up at the beautiful Parkview estate, with John and Jackie having cycled from Camden and Sree having walked for 40 minutes to join us. Impressive dedication from all of you, and especially so for Sree and John who had been at Stepney City Farm last night too!

It was a delight to welcome back Fiona for her second good deed - look forward to seeing you again soon! Rounding out the Saturday squad was Tower Hamlets superstar Becky and the legendary Laura.

As ever Catherine had a number of tasks lined up for us today, and as a very special treat she was joined by her wonderful son Liam who was on hand to help direct proceedings, dish out very useful advice (especially to me when I was uprooting bindweed) and bring further joy to the event with his enthusiasm and cheery inquisitive nature.

Becky, Sree and Fiona headed over to Rosebury Gardens to ensure that weeds that had sprung up around the recently planted lavender were unceremoniously uprooted to give the lavender space to breathe and grow. They made light work of this despite the almost constant drizzle which absolutely didn't dampen their spirits. Of note, our recent attempts to de-potato the gardens maybe weren't as comprehensive as we might have thought as Becky unearthed a couple of errant potatoes.

Just around the corner Jackie spent a considerable amount of time honing her rose dead-heading skills and got through a huge amount of them really helping the remaining roses to thrive. She really seemed to be enjoying it so much so that she was reluctant to wrap up at the appointed time as there were a few more to be tackled...

John was superb on the weeding and further lavender planting front, making a big big difference in a short amount of time whilst battling with the elements that were simultaneously a help (the rain softening the ground) and a hindrance (his rain jacket didn't have a hood) and the lavenders he planted will no doubt bring great joy to the residents and the local wildlife for years to come.

Laura was her typically dynamic self getting stuck in to anything and everything that needed assistance on, whilst also magically finding the time to scurry round getting fabulous photos of everyone too, whilst providing light entertainment, humour and enthusiasm every step of the way.

Meanwhile I tackled some particularly pernicious bindweed which had an impressive network of roots that kept me occupied, but was immensely satisfying to clear from a bed of roses, and looked considerably better afterwards.

It was a really successful 90 minutes and everyone had a lovely time, and as ever Catherine (and Liam too) were immensely appreciative of our help. Liam was particularly reluctant to see us depart but the good news is that we'll be back again at Parkview soon for more gardening fun, so keep an eye out for that!