Special Energy Tonight's mission at Gale Street Organic Community Garden had a special energy, thanks to new GoodGymmers joining the team.

🥳 Special well done to Irina for walking all the way from Ilford to Becontree (and back) to join their first ever B&D mission. Also a huge congratulations to Jemima and Alison for completing their first ever GoodGym session!

5️⃣ tasks With sleeves rolled up and tools in hand, we took on not one but FIVE tasks to improve this precious green space for everyone who uses it.

💧+🌽 Jemima got stuck in with two tasks straight away - decanting water out of one of the rainwater tanks into five watering cans, then taking the watering cans to the four large vegetable patches to water the very thirsty courgettes, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers.

🏋 @Irina pounced on "the pile" that needed lifting & moving (old kitchen cabinets, broken wheelbarrows, etc.) and was soon joined by Steven and Harry. The threesome made light work of relocating the pile to make way for the potting shed to be moved here.

🛠️ Emdad and Alison joined Nassaba (Elevate Together) in dismantling the small potting shed, removing the internal panelling and unscrewing the wallpanels before carefuly carrying the pieces taken to their new home on the other side of the garden. Once reassembled, it will serve as a secure and easily accessible spot for storing potting tools and gardening gear.

Incredible teamwork 🤜🤛 Our 6 strong team of GoodGymmers worked in perfect unison, seamlessly switching from task to task to offer extra support at critical points. Everyone got a chance to do different workouts at different task stations - lifting rainwater tanks, squatting to reach the low screws in the shed, pulling hard at "the pile" to free it form the overgrowth, and completing reps from the rainwater tanks to the vegetable patches.

Local lead Breda and Nassaba from Elevate Together were on hand to fully support our effort, helping coordinate tasks and cheering everyone on.

What's it all for? 🌱 Tonight's tasks aren't just about appearances. A safer, more organised garden space means neighbours can plant, pot, and prune with confidence. For many, the garden is a quiet retreat and a place to meet friends, enjoy fresh air, and connect with nature right in the heart of the community.

🙌 Spaces like Gale Street don’t just grow flowers and vegetables - they grow friendships, resilience, and wellbeing. Outdoor volunteering is proven to boost both physical health and mental clarity. And when GoodGymmers turn up, they not only bring muscle but a spirit of co-operation that inspires the whole neighbourhood.

Emdad (TaskForce) & Steven (Area Activator)

Packing food in bags for collection and delivery, offloading the crate and stocking the shelves. We ran out of some food Helping to keep fit and exercise through helping and interacting with other volunteers met some volunteers today it was busy today but relaxing at the same time. I enjoyed some cake . The leaders made it welcoming for all and asked me to bring my sis in law again !!! Some food parcels were collected.

Starting with a huge welcome to the Frenford Foodbank team for our new member Gabriella, recruited from our local Parkrun she arrived keen to make a start and was soon picking, packing and generally making herself a very valuable member of the team.

Julia and Kathryn made themselves very useful packing bags and teaming up to shift heavy crates together...although I am not convinced Kathryn giving someone bonus tinned pasta and chocolate mini rolls was a good swap for not having the right sized nappies but it made us laugh.

It was lovely to see Irina again who slipped into the team quietly getting on with things and doing a great job...so quiet I forgot to take her photo, sorry Irena, if its any consolation I also forgot to get a photo of myself 🤦‍♀️

Our regular couple of power packers Herman and Tina proved invaluable as ever completed a very efficient team.

With the steady stream of us arriving at different times and working alongside a couple of Frenfords own volunteers, things ticked over so smoothly we were finished early and had energy to spare to off load a supermarket delivery.

The only hitch was not having initial access to the storage cages so the packages had to be shifted about in crates then lifted on to the cages when the spare store key arrived but no one seemed to mind as we worked together and got the job finished.

The task owner was very pleased and sends a big thank you for our help.

Good job GoodGym. 😁