In 1845, archaeologists uncovered Roman remains and artifacts near Bethnal Green, giving Roman Road its name. 181 years later, a legion of GoodGym gladiators set up camp at one of our nearest tasks – it was Home Sweet Rome as we marched on the colosseum known as Roman Road Square

The planters supplied by the council aren’t exactly mosaics – Rome wasn’t built in a day you know - and needed some attention which local senators can’t afford to carry out. We hadn’t got a pair of "Caesars" with which to cut the foliage, but much of the dead and dying debris gave way easily, just like Gaul

Darren had recovered from a bout of Legionnaires disease, or something, which had kept him from carving his tablets of code, while consul Sam played Brutus as he tried to depose Emperor Johnus and take charge. Lucinda brought lights, but we didn’t need even Roman candles

I’d returned from a mission to check on Germania Inferior while Governor Pieke is on manoeuvres in London, and I was pleased to report that the province is at peace with the GoodGym empire

When the weeds and rubbish had been conquered we compared red togas. Emma, wanted to know what the “M” on the label stood for: surely a Thousand, in Roman numerals. It should be a ’C' though, as she’s about to become a centurion…

Don’t forget we’re going for a Triumph in the Approach Tavern on Friday (https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/goodgym-november-drink). Expect bread, circuses and ale, but probably not any Rome-ance

A large group of Goodgymers gathered for our first November task in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. We started with introductions, biscuit preferences and a brief history of the park. Then it was time to get our gloves, tools and head torches and we headed off into the darkness.

Our task was to plant over 400 snowdrop and daffodil bulbs along the side of a rediscovered footpath among the graves. We planted randomly to add to the wild, natural feel of the park which is a managed nature reserve. Come back early next year to see these beautiful flowers in bloom!

Many hands made light work of the planting and a fun time was had by all. Conversations flourished and new friendships were formed. Ken also imparted his knowledge of cemetery celebrities (including William Perkin who invented an affordable mauve dye and has family buried there) and natural wonders such as the picturesque purple fungus on the stump of a horse chestnut tree.

A big shout out to Iona and Peter for completing their first ever Goodgym tasks. It was great to have you and we hope you’ll join us again soon. Also, a big hello to our visitors to the borough including Hannah!

We were all set for tonight’s task – confirmed yesterday evening..But then, well into this afternoon, I was told there’d be no-one to look after us at the canal club. A substitute task was set up at St Matthews, and I sent round a message and an email, All this took me away from my work-work, so if you hear that the Government has missed its housing targets, it’s because we missed going to the canal club

St Matthews is a handy reserve venue; Lady Andrea said we can drop in any time, recklessly entrusting me with the gate key as well as the top-secret code for the shed. I left a hand-written notice at the site of the original task, in case somebody didn’t get the message, but I think everyone picked up on the change. Unless Northern Emma is still waiting vainly at the canal club gates now

Having the key is one thing. Successfully navigating the heavy, rusty old gate is another. Thankfully, this panic was soon over, thanks to Emmanuel who helped me unlock it, and then later Sam who assisted with locking it up again

No-one seemed keen to weed in the dark, but never mind, there were plenty of leaves to be gathered. Unfortunately we only had one - admittedly very large – bag, and the capacity of the bin by the gate was well below our leaf-gathering potential. But we soon found what looked like a composting area, with abundant room for fallen fronds

Everyone chipped in to help. Ilana held a spade to stop it falling over. Kate set a 2026 course record for the largest leaf volume collected by a single leaf-grabber. Lucinda sent a proxy but still arrived with nearly half the task remaining. Adam helped both Ciarán (with his survey) and Emma (with her furniture). And the latter indulged in her unique style of aerial photography to capture the group photo

Seriously, it was fun meeting you Isabela, hope to see you at many more, better organised tasks. Good to see you back, Kate and Kirsti. Get well soon, Northern Emma. And best wishes to Lady Andrea of this parish, who is recovering well from a serious operation. And has been short-listed by Tower Hamlets In Bloom for best balcony!

I enjoyed a glorious sunny (though blustery) hour walking through Victoria Park to purchase three sets of perennial plants to help bring joy to Ms S so she can enjoy views of her back garden for years to come. Having helped MsS navigate online shopping and purchase a hose lock the last time I visited, today’s task included fixing and locking it in place.

It was a busy evening at Oceans Youth Connections, with plenty of jobs to keep everyone occupied.

We had a bit of everything to get through, from sweeping, vacuuming and mopping the floors inside to leaf picking and weeding outside. With so much to do, we split ourselves into different areas, switching around whenever we fancied a change of task.

Everyone got stuck in, and with so many helping hands, we managed to get through plenty of work.

It was also lovely to see so many new faces joining us this evening, especially those attending their very first GoodGym session. Hopefully having such a big group made it an enjoyable first experience, and we’ll be seeing them again soon.

A busy but lovely evening, with plenty of teamwork and a great turnout. Thank you to everyone who came along and got involved!

It was a short stop to visit MsS after work this evening. The already dismantled garden table was moved along with the rusty bike to the front garden, ready to be collected by the council’s bulk waste collection team in the morning.