This week we attracted the attention of at least 10 children (and accompanying adults), who were playing in the nearby children's play area as we filled up our watering cans. After escorting us on our first lap of the Common and helping water the trees, the intrigued and delighted children all returned to the tap and helped us fill up for the next round.

The youngsters were utterly enthralled by proceedings and most remarkably, everyone remained dry!

Hopefully we have inspired a new generation of tree lovers and environmentalists.

The weekly watering session was going ahead as usual. The little rain that fell earlier in the week was not nearly enough to sustain young tree life on Stoke Newington Common,

Despite getting held up at work (again), I decided this week to work on the 'better late than never' principle (the same principle has been applied to writing this report). Despite being a good half hour late, there was still several rounds of the common to do so I was able to help out as well as get some fresh air after a long day.

We joined a group of parents to help build a set of bike sheds for a primary school. Sounds easy but they are heavy, complicated, and require many hands to put together.

One unanticipated problem was the awful smell on the plexiglass sheets which had been left out in the rain (words cannot describe - but it smelt worse than the nearby Hackney City Farm).

Louise had helped disassemble the bike sheds from the previous location and was determined to see the task through. After many hours and lots of swearing the sheds were complete. We celebrated afterwards with bagels and bubble tea.

A neighbour's trees overhung Mr F's garden, reducing the light getting to his flowers and vegetables. Having unsuccessfully tried the diplomatic route to get this sorted out, he called in Goodgym to help trim the trees on his side of the fence.

Standing on a combination of stepladders, ladders and the garage roof, in an hour and a half I managed to lop off a lot of branches. Mr F tidied up at ground level, filling the council garden bin and making a pile for the following bin collection. It was good to work alongside him in the sunshine, sharing the work and a few stories.

It was only as the bed started to come to shape did Ms E's daughter comment that it seemed very low (due to having very short legs...), and would be unsuitable for her 90 year old mother to sleep in, simply because she wouldn't be able to get in and out of bed!

I'd opened the box to find a very neat arrangement where all the parts for the bed were zipped into the headboard - so with the news, weather and then an interesting crime thriller on the nearby tv as background entertainment I got to work. The parts all seemed to come together ok, but it was only when I attached the footboard and headboard to the frame was it apparent just how low the bed would be to the floor - not quite a futon, but not far off!

At this point Ms E called her mother's social worker to say the bed wouldn't work for her elderly mother, and that they'd probably have to find an alternative for her.

I agreed to dismantle the frame (or as much as I could without damaging any of the now attached fittings), and stack them neatly back in the packing box. Ms E's daughter asked if I could get them back into the headboard, as it was possible the bed could be used by someone else, so it would be nice to have it back in its original box. I was reluctant to remove the screwed in fittings, but agreed it was worth a try.

By some miracle, all the parts did fit, and with a ziplock bag to contain the remaining loose nuts and bolts, we soon had it back in the original cardboard box, ready to be taken away. Ms E's daughter will continue her quest to find a suitably tall bed for her mother to return home to.

This run was a special collaboration with the Muslim Runners.

We all met up at Stamford Hill Station and got acquainted with some nice chit chat before heading to a side street to warm up. After that, we made our way to Nightingale Estate. I appreciated that Mo helped with pacing and checking the back to make sure no one was falling behind. It made it a lot easier for me to just focus on directions.

Once we arrived at Nightingale, we were split into two groups. Nighat, Fahad, Fatima and Mai were watering the flower beds, getting rid of weeds and cutting unwanted brunches that were growing. They got stuck in and completely transformed the flower beds.

Mo, Uzma, Bunmi and I went to a separate allotment they had that was 5 mins away. We were responsible for digging out all grass and unwanted weeds from the ground to make room for more plants to grow. It was a messy and tough job but we got it done and had a great time doing it.

Once time was up, some of us parted ways from there whilst the rest of us ran back to the start point. It was a very successful day out, and Nightingale were great hosts, as always. What a productive weekend.