There was to be no mulching at Columbia Road this time, the mulch heap having been removed by the council after a fire, an indication of the drought conditions endured by Londoners at present. So there's a hosepipe ban, but plants still need irrigation, which is where GoodGym come in...

A very healthy turnout of 19 GoodGymers soon grabbed a surprisingly adequate number of watering cans. They boosted their daily step-count while strengthening their muscles, returning again and again from the water tap in the storage area, to the bushes and plants on the other side of the estate. Doing good while keeping fit!

Ed and several of our crew seemed to have abandoned the task, but never fear, we found them using an alternative tap, unhelpfully situated behind a fence, but more handily situated for the bushes and trees on that side of the estate

Special mention to Lucinda and Chris who were prepared to stay in the confines of the storage area in order to serve a constant stream of GoodGym “customers”. Actually, they probably had the right idea, it was a bit cooler in there…

Returning to the canal club, this time we concentrated on weeding the winding paths between the plant beds, alongside the canal. Others chopped and sawed wood. It was a crowded space for the lucky 13 of us, but we spread ourselves into twos and threes and set to work, while catching up with each others’ activities since last we met

Our reward, supplied by lovely task owner Sally, were weather-appropriate home-made lollipops, with even a choice of flavours! So we continued the socialising while exciting our taste buds, then after most people had dispersed, four of us decided that the night was still young, and headed for The Hare in Cambridge Heath Road

The Canal Club, however, is currently proposed as a site for development. It was built for residents of the Wellington Estate and its activities include toddler storytelling, baby dance classes, Tai Chi, knitting and sewing, outdoor pizza making, breakdancing, line dancing, karaoke social evenings, a science homework club, singing, refugee activities, a food bank, arts and crafts, and Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. There is a ball court and a children’s playground

This is not an empty site! If you want the council to remove the site from its accelerated housing scheme, sign the petition at https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/save-our-space-e2-save-the-canal-club

A large group of goodgymers old and new joined Ken on a pleasant Monday evening for the usual spot of gardening in the cemetery park. Following the heatwave there was lots to be done. This week’s task was tackling another ‘verdant villain’ called Hogweed. This piggy plant hogs all the nutrients and sunlight and spreads rapidly to the detriment of the surrounding nature. Ken explained the importance of other nearby plants which attract rare species of bee to the cemetery park and are vital to the ecosystem and threatened by the invasive hogweed.

We set to work with our gloves, loppers and secateurs clearing the weed from a triangular patch near the pond. The wheelbarrows filled up as we cut stem after stem, then it was off to empty them on the pile. It was great to see the progress of the patch we cleared in a power hour of Goodgym effort. A huge welcome to our three new Goodgymers; Ana, Joely and Nuunuu. Thanks for all your help and we’d love you to join us again soon!