A whole NINE Goodgymmers met at Blue House Yard for tonight's task. We welcomed first timer Asan. He and Mark walked to the task, with Sarah leading a running group by a slightly longer route.

At the task we were met by Luke, with Milo the dachshund.

The school garden has come a long way since we first started going there, and out was lovely to see daffodils in full bloom, and tulips about to burst open.

Luke had a few tasks lined up: first of all lifting a big heavy tank into the food growing garden. This was accomplished so quickly Sarah didn't even manage to get a photo.

There were also a couple of climbing plants to move, a large number of trees to plant to create a new tiny forest, some soil to backfill the holes and then the whole lot to be watered in.

The team managed all of this in time to finish by 8pm and melt away into the starry night.

It was an occasion of firsts - our first task with Urban Forest Tribe - the first GoodGym Haringey task for Amy and Diana - the first task that I listed (coached by Sarah) and led

We met Paula, the founder of Urban Forest Tribe and the task owner, and her husband Steve, in Bonds Green Scout Park at 10am Saturday morning. Paula is a remarkable person - passionate about what she does and energetic, focused and determined. The sort of person who doesn't take NO for an answer, instead asking WHY again and again - usually ending in her favour. Definitely a brave person focused on improving the lives of others. Her answer to a question about impact in National Park City London's website: "The most positive impact (I've had) has been supporting families of children with SEND helping them feel connected to nature in a safe, non-judgmental green space. It's so powerful for children to experience their local park, feel the soil, plant a tree, and simply enjoy being outdoors without feeling judged. Creating this space for them to thrive in nature is incredibly rewarding." Amy and Diana are gems - they found their way to the park and to the site and threw their energy and enthusiasm into digging up wood-chip, loading it on to wheelbarrows and taking it to an an area being developed for hammocks and seating on a raised wooden platform that Steve was building. The path leading from wood-chip pile to seating area was a bog with considerably bravery needed to prevent wheelbarrows from being sucked below the surface. After a tea break, and a final burst of energy, we finished soon after 12:30 - hugely satisfied with what was achieved and confident that the children would enjoy their time in that beautiful site even more than we did. We look forward to going back and to having other GoodGymers also experience this initiative . It has a strong sense of purpose and inclusion - that's a fortune we can all relate to and share in.

more details https://nationalparkcity.london/ranger-story-paula-harvey

https://nationalparkcity.london/do-london-differently-podcast-ep-23-tribe-roots-for-resilience

Tottenham Town Hall Foodbank had not received the request and so there was no parcel(s) waiting for collection. They very graciously put together 2 large bags of food in no time at all. Mr A, the recipient, was extremely grateful for the delivery - a man with physical disabilities and two 18-year old twin boys to feed as well. I finished the mission with huge respect for the role played by this foodbank and others.

Tonight's task required a run of precisely 0km, as the task was at our start location of Blue House Yard. Blue House Yard is a lovely little brightly painted space housing local businesses. The entrance to the yard was lowering the tone somewhat.

Enter Luke and his Postcode Gardener project, who have managed to get some funding to bring the site back to life.

And who better to help out than GoodGym Haringey!

Sarah, Yann, Rebecca and Veronika quickly armed themselves with towels and got to work. The aim for today was just to clear all of the weeds ahead of coming back at a later date to plant the site up. By 8pm the site was pretty much clear, and the team melted away into the night (or possibly the bus bar).

Goodgym is not just a running group any more. Our volunteers can choose to run, walk or cycle to a task. Tonight's volunteers did all three! Mark has a football or possibly dancing-related injury so walked to the task. Dave ran. And today's group leader Sarah cycled to her office near the task, ran to Blue House Yard to collect Dave, ran back to the task with Dave, then cycled home.

Today's task was in solidarity with our cycling buddies over at the Haringey Cycling Campaign. What with the 40+ days of rain we have had so far this year, the roads in Haringey and neighbouring Hackney are in a bit of a state. The HCC WhatsApp group was busy with talk of potholes, particularly around the Manor House junction.

Sarah knows it well as she cycles that way to her office at least once a week. So she volunteered GoodGym Haringey to help.

Potholes on the Hackney side of the road can be reported in the website fillthathole.org.uk.

On the Haringey side there is a form to fill out on the council website: https://haringey.gov.uk/streets-roads-travel/road-maintenance-improvements/report-problems-with-a-street-road/potholes-road-damage

Sarah, Mark and Dave managed to report several potholes on both sides of the stretch of Green Lanes that lies to the North of Manor House. Sarah reported one, but then technical difficulties combined with Raynaud's and more of that nasty weather forced an early stop. As she works nearby she is planning to go back in more settled weather and complete the task.

And now we all get to wait and see if the councils take action! To be continued...

On a rainy night in February three of the team met at Blue House Yard to run the two kilometers to Lordship Rec, pausing only to report a big pile of dog mess to LoveCleanStreets. The rest of the gang had already arrived, and everyone was soon put to work shovelling, barrowing and spreading woodchip on the path through the orchard. There was a side mission for strongman Dave carrying and piling logs to build a bug hotel. Task owner Mike said there were something like 1400* different species in the Rec.

Although someone kept putting a spade in Dave's path and Rebecca kept almost slipping over in the mud, we made it through the night accident-free and also murder free, which is an achievement given Sarah kept channeling Claudia Winkleman in lieu of doing anything actually helpful.

There was just enough time left at the end to spread some more woodchip around the very muddy parkrun start and finish.

• Sarah is relying on memory here as it was too damp to take notes