Slowly our little group grew this evening, gathering by the Cranbrook Community Centre, for some pre-task body weight moves.

The team did fantastically speeding through bundles of challenging lower body balance work, some wall push-ups and the odd stretch in a short space of time.

By the time Task Owner Laura had briefed us on our work tonight, we had grown to a respectable size of 14.

GoodGymers busied themselves with filling bag after bag of leaves, of which there was a huge build up around the borders of the garden. Another team headed to the compost bays, and as the leaves were quickly cleared, members proceeded to head out to all four corners of the garden to bag the last of the leaves, rake a collapsed vegetable bed, shift containers..You name it.

By 7:40, we were looking for new jobs, such was the pace at which members worked. It was a fantastic - and chilly - effort.

By 8pm, we were sweeping the last of the leaves off the path, locating gloves and garden tools, and getting ready to say our goodbyes.

We posed for the all-important final photo before heading in various directions, glad to have got the week off to a good start.

A big shout-out to the whole team tonight, to Oana and Moona, whose first GG Tower Hamlets this was (hope to see you again soon) and to Fiona, for tonight's lovely pun.

Next week we return to the Royal London Hospital for a variety of interesting tasks with Nancy and the Barts Volunteers team. Details and sign-up are here.

Until then.

A clear Monday night meant only one thing: a terrific opportunity for 11 GoodGymers to get together to shift a LARGE amount of mulch...

But before that

Gathering in the St Leonard's Churchyard just before 7, the pre-task workout crew enjoyed a handful of moves using benches and planters as a multi-gym. We welcomed first time GoodGymers, Naomi and Eva, who did brilliantly, speeding through our regular top-to-toe faves: the Bulgarian split squat, single-leg tricep dips and seated leg lowers, to name a few.

As the rest of tonight's team trickled in, we slowly made our way over to the entrance to greet Larry, our regular task owner at this lovely park.

What is St Leonard's Priory Park?

St Leonards Priory in Bromley-By-Bow is the pretty remains of an ancient church and its grounds. Originally part of a Convent, a large Benedictine nunnery, there is 'tremendous potential to develop this forgotten space into a local community area for local people to enjoy'. And that's the plan. Currently the park hosts a gardening group every Saturday from 11-1, and there are plans afoot to work with local schools in further developing this space for, and with, the young people of this area.

The task

Tonight we were shovelling, wheeling and spreading two huge sacks of mulch to the woodland glade area.

This area is in total shade, and little can grow here apart from...ferns. But before the ferns can be planted, the area needed clearing of leaves and the woodchip distributing (Fascinating Fern Fact: Did you know ferns are ancient plants, dating back millions of years?...).

The teams were divided into four, initially: a couple leaf-raking; a larger group shovelling mulch into sacks; several wheeling, and two brave souls across the other side of the garden, on an unrelated task, lopping a thorny-looking tree.

The team worked industriously for an hour and a quarter, rotating out of tasks and into new ones to help distribute the muscle-load evenly, posing patiently for pics, and not stopping until those two huge bags were emptied.

It was a fantastic effort!

On finishing, the glade area looked clear and well-covered, ready for its new leafy residents.

After posing for our final group shot, to accompany task owner Larry's spectacular pun, we packed the last rake, unchained bikes from railings, and headed out into the night, another marvellous Monday done.

Until next time.

A fantastic team of 14 met in Devons Road this evening, with Ken and Terry from the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

Why were we here?

Ken explained that this planting project undertaken by the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park is helping to create a green corridor through this area of East London.

What does that mean?

Well, by populating the Lea Valley Green Route (the area from Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, out to Bow Docks and on to the Lea Valley), with bulbs, plants and trees, we’re essentially making more nature available to more residents.

It will allow more wildlife to move between the Lee Valley, and the Lee Valley Park, into the Borough.

Creating ‘stepping stones’ in this way, between green space and urban street spaces, benefits everyone: green spaces that are inhabited by wildlife, trees and plants, not only mean more areas for all residents to enjoy, they can also help to reduce the effects of pollution, often an issue in large cities.

What we were planting

Terry talked us through the mix of trees we were settling into the ground, which included:

Purging Buckthorn (Google that one)

Grey Willow

Wayfaring

Spindle

Oak

Beech

Hornbeam

Dogwood

Wild Privet

Various factors were involved in the choice of the trees, including:

• Comfort (avoiding too many thorns, so litter-picking isn’t too much of a mission).

• Butterfly appeal (the Brimstone butterfly seeks out buckthorn on which to lay its eggs).

• Green-ness (beech and hornbeam tend to hang onto their leaves).

• …And a general ambition that plenty of berries and flowers will come out at different times with this mix, and attract insects.

Speedy work

Our large team set about this big planting mission, all around the park, following careful, precise instructions from Ken.

Tree after tree was produced for the GoodGymers to expertly settle into their new home.

No sooner had the obligatory pictures been taken, and the final few poorly-lit areas been populated with trees, than Ken called it a wrap.

200 trees in less than an hour! Way. To. Go.

We collected tools, loaded the wheelbarrows, posed for one last group shot, before saying our cheerios for the night.

Shout-outs

The big cheers this week go to:

• Clare, whose first GoodGym event it was! Well done Clare, hope to see you again very soon.

• Johnny, for saving the location day, and speedily dropping the all-important pin.

• Kevin, our brilliant head torch technician…

And most of all, to Ken and Terry for three, fabulous Monday nights out in Tower Hamlets.

Next week

...we’re back to Devons Road, for another big gardening task with St Leonard’s Priory Park!

Until then.