A breezy but bright Monday evening saw 12 GoodGymers head to Columbia Road to help the Columbia TRA with some weeding and mulch distribution.

Following a short workout in Ravenscroft Park (where we welcomed Connie to her first GoodGym Tower Hamlets task) we made our way around the corner to the gardens of Sivill House where Ed, Ed, Liz and Dougal were well preparing the equipment for this evening’s activity.

After a short briefing, we were promptly dispatched into three teams (one distributing mulch; one weeding in the garden by the street, and another weeding in the orchard area).

Shuttling barrows of mulch around the gardens, plucking pesky grass and unwanted dock leaves, the time sped by.

At shortly before 8, we decided to call it a night, emptying the last weed onto the compost pile and the last wheelbarrow of mulch onto the young trees.

A good night’s work, and great to be reunited with the fun Columbia TRA team.

Next week, our Monday night activity’s moved to Wednesday, due to the Bank Holiday, when we’ll be joining Margaret and Ash for another fun evening in-and-around the Hollybush Estate.

Until then.

Once again we gathered at the Yurt café, even though it had closed two hours earlier. But we were here for a good deed, not a good feed. I arrived quite close to the start time and wondered if anyone else was going to appear. But GoodGymers are known for their precise timing (except Sree and Emma, of course), and nearly all appeared within seconds of the start time, notably Martin who times his pre-task runs to perfection.

Welcome especially to Beth, doing her first ever good deed, and who we hope to see a few more times before she relocates to meet the equally lovely folk at GoodGym Islington.

It was great to be good-deeding in daylight, and to discover there’s a short cut to the Yurt from Limehouse station, until dusk. Some people were still delighting in Fulham’s win against some team from Stratford as we selected gloves: relatively mud-free, and neatly divided into four different sizes.

We were tasked with raking gravel, to be wheelbarrowed away to another spot. One barrow was earmarked for pure gravel, while another was reserved for gravel-mixed-with-earth, which must have got a better name than that. The difficulty came when shovelling up what looked like unadulterated gravel, as we sometimes inadvertently also dug up the earth concealed below, which risked messing up the whole system.

Despite fifteen people wielding spades and shovels (once again trying to ascertain the difference between the two), and long sharp rakes, and pushing wheelbarrows in a confined space, not a single GoodGymer was injured!

Task Force regular Emma​ demonstrated her worth as a photo snapper extraordinaire, then demonstrated how to use a wheelbarrow as a sofa. As Ilana watched the sun set over some indistinguishable writing on a nearby tower block, we gathered for a few final photos. I headed for Limehouse station with Fiona and Alisa, as we looked forward to returning for one or more of the following:

On Saturday lunchtime, join Maddie and Robert sorting food for foodbanks at the Felix Project https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/saturday-afternoon-session-at-the-felix-project-s-poplar-depot-6df11c33-e39a-4480-a244-6b041986663c. Or join the earlier session at 9:30: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/saturday-morning-session-at-the-felix-project-s-poplar-depot-7fd69d30-ee3a-47cb-8268-3c6b48d2ccd5

Next Monday evening we’re heading for the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park – always a fun task. https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/the-big-monday-night-task-gardening-at-the-tower-hamlets-cemetery-park-pre-task-workout-4fd663a8-d032-4189-8e78-e0c1adb73052

On Thursday 9th May, there’s a social at the Monument pub in Whitechapel. Myself, Lucinda and “Southern” Emma have already signed up: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/goodgym-social-in-the-city

On Sunday 2nd June, join us for a great day out on the stunning Seven Sisters walk: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/seven-sisters-walk

We had a good-sized turnout for our fitness session this evening. Balancing on benches and planters, the GoodGymers worked hard at multi-directional lunges, upper body exercises and some decent side planks. It was a fun start to our evening, and great to welcome Lucinda to her first GoodGym!

As our team slowly grew, by 7pm we were ready for a briefing from Larry. Tonight we were dismantling a shed (every bit as fun as it sounds), repotting a tree, dismantling planters, relocating soil and filling the skip.

A fun workout if there ever was one.

Grabbing safety goggles and club hammers, we headed over to the shed to say adios to this redundant structure. Off came the roof, onto its side it went – then the sides were no more. This was a cathartic task-and-a-half.

Meanwhile several other teams were emptying planters full of soil and wheeling the barrows over to a far corner, and carrying the dismantled planters to the skip. Lobo and Alisa meanwhile were doing a sterling job of tree re-potting, including emptying a huge ton bag of soil.

It was a fun, active evening lending a hand to help prepare this space for a huge redevelopment, a big project that needs turning around in a short space of time.

At just before 8, we sped through the tool-gathering in our usual productive fashion, and posed for that final pic, less speedy thanks to an uncooperative camera.

Before we headed out, Larry explained what we’d be doing next week in our second visit of March:

• Dismantling more planters

• Repairing the fence

• Moving timber

Until then.

A relatively mild Monday evening saw 11 GoodGymers join Ken from the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park (FoTHCP) for a big ivy-removal session this evening.

Having gathered at the park entrance from 6:40 for tonight’s Standing Abs Workout, shortly after 7pm we were gathering the last of the loppers and lining up the wheelbarrows ready to make our way around to tonight’s task location.

The best health and safety briefing ever

Following Ken through what appeared to be a particularly dense section of the park, we arrived at our designated spot, where Ken proceeded to run through ‘the best health and safety briefing ever’.

Tonight we were pulling ivy away from graves, headstones and undergrowth, allowing gravestones to be visible and ground to be clear of this densely-growing climber.

Ken ran through the ivy removal basics, from the role of the lopper to the whys and wherefores of controlling this pretty plant, after which the team promptly grabbed gloves and head torches and chose a spot at which to start.

Stubborn stems

We were relieved to have the additional lighting, as, although only a few days from the next full moon, without head torches and work lights, locating and plucking the ivy could have been a tricky task.

As the first five wheelbarrows were piled high with ivy, a willing wheeling team quickly assembled. Ken accompanied the barrows to the park’s green waste pile, returning with some pungent bin bags.

With a ten-minute countdown given at 7:50, GoodGymers proceeded to move far behind the gravestones for a final push.

At 8pm, we gathered tools and trash and made our way back through the dark park, excited for our next visit.

A big shout-out to everyone for a productive and fun night with the FoTHCP team.

Next week, we head up to Bow Road, for another fun and varied evening with Frankie and Kieran at the GET OUT garden.

Until then.