Ballast In Wonderland

A sizeable bunch of us ran over to a local school yesterday and basically saved children's lives. One of the few positives of this global pandemic is that we've had different areas crossing 'borders', all the way to little old Newham. Tower Hamlets, Greenwich, Redbridge and Walthamstow just to name a few over the months. I'm not sure if this silver lining is appreciated on an International level, but I shall take it, and run, of course.

Hils and I, did the aerobic two-step down from our spiritual home to the school. Getting straight into the task after some introductions and high calibre chit-chat. Filling sandbags was the game: ballasting (feels like a verb) them to fences which cordon off classes into micro 'bubbles', limiting contact with other kids. Hence why I allude to saving lives, it's not necessary to state all the ways that we potentially did this, just take my word for it. Heroes you are.

There was never a predefined weight to fill the sandbags to, not an exact measure, nor a rough description eg 'heavy', 'really heavy', 'really really heavy'. We just did what was right for the sandbag, let it reach its natural potential at that moment in time, or so I had thought. I figured this was a 'to feel' activity. I was sternly corrected. Merely by sight, my sandbag was deemed lightweight, ineffective and just not up to the job, a public shaming ensued and a sleepless night. To be fair, I'm out of practise. However, even with the dud-bag, we got the job done, some heavy-duty bags ensured of that. Firmly anchoring down fences, embedded into the playground forever more. Nice work, team!

On a serious note, loved seeing you all, a dose of the old normal that I hugely miss. A pleasure to meet the lovely new folks, spreading their GoodGym wings from other boroughs. And a sentimental happiness in seeing all you Newham stalwarts, even if we didn't get to chat as much I would have liked.

We'll be back at the playground next month, sign up here.

Till next time

B