Ivo

This was my first session with Bethnal Green Food Bank at Raines School. The volunteer team was brilliantly organised by Andy and they were very welcoming. Jo was working on the desk welcoming clients and I was picking and delivering bags. The process is amazingly well setup and it was great to be able to help with this essential provision and meet some really friendly people.

Lovely to be back in Wilton!!

Starting the session on the running train with Clair and GG first timer Milly outside Shoreditch Fire station and running the 3.5km up to Wilton picking up Charlotte, Jen and Amanda B along the way to Wilton.

Reaching the tool shed to meet the rest of the crew who were primed for GG action!

Gloving up and getting weeding to clear a monster over growth of thistles to free the other plants from being over run. The standard use of a sledgehammer to pack the weeds down and Toyin sawing down trees like a lumberjack!

We then had the cutters bringing light to a number of ground floor flats by cutting back the bushes and vines to brighten up a number of households days.

Big shout out to Amanda N for completing he 50th GoodDeed!! A massive effort 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

With the flower beds looking primed for some planting and a job well done we jumped aboard the running training making drop offs at Bike racks, drinking spots and Borough boarders to finish off a top evening!!

Thank you all so much for coming along!! Next week we will be Hackney City Farming hope you can make that adventure!!

Joel x

After a few drop outs to today's Community Mission, four fantastic GoodGymmers got to work pulling out weeds at Pearson St Adventure Playground.

Armed with gloves, wheelbarrows and garden forks we made light work of the nettles, bindweeds and other overgrown weeds. Ivo's expert horticultural knowledge led to us spotting a dreaded sight: Japanese knotweed. Without the adequate means to remove this weed, we notified the task owner.

We continued for an hour enjoying each others company. It turned out we had a diverse group from all different areas: Ruby from Waltham Forest, Even from Hackney, Ivo from Tower Hamlets and Dharmesh from Redbridge. Even speedily collected up the tools at the end and the task owner was very grateful.

We also discovered it was Ruby's 50th good deed. Congratulations Ruby, black tee inbound!

It was great to spend time with you all. Until the next time!

Next week will be the final session at Pearson St Adventure Playground, so don't miss it!

We gathered in Weavers Fields for our mini fitness session this evening. The sky was grey, the wind was present, the temperature was October-worthy. But it didn't rain. #winning

After whizzing through 15 quick minutes of body weight, park bench and running exercises we made our way to VCSA (Vallance Community Sports Association) to meet our group of participants for this evening's task.

We kicked off with a couple of talks, about getting into the fitness industry, and about GoodGym. We loved hearing Ivo talk GoodGym: How it Started (many of tonight's GG members are new, and they loved hearing about the early beginnings).

We moved to our Q&A where participants Charlie and Nimrha took the floor to ask us what we get out of fitness; GoodGym, and a little bit more about the kind of stuff we get up to. It was good to hear members chatting about their own GoodGym experiences, from entering half marathons for the first time, to digging holes in community gardens and making friends.

Ground Force

We then headed out to the garden, to rake up a lot of grass; pack up a discarded gazebo and, much to our delight, get stuck into a last minute Buddleia cull.

Not a fan of the Buddleia, then?

Yes, Jamie from Spitalfields City Farm swung by to collect the tools he'd loaned the Centre for the evening, took one look at the poor, overbearing Buddleia and asked, "Why don't you have a crack at this? It's obscuring your light. Not to mention that beautiful Silver Birch."

And down it went. The Buddleia Bunch (Jamie, Ivo and Nimrha) wasted no time in hacking through branches and branches, and before we knew it, the Buddleia was no more. It was quite a site.

"So not much of the Buddleia left, even with its huge draw for the butterfly?", a wide-eyed Ivo asked Jamie as we stacked branches by the fence.

Jamie stood firm: "It'll grow back in no time, and just look at that light."

Then it was gone half eight, and the team were packing away. A really cracking start to the week.

The shout-outs

Well done to everyone, particularly Bablu for fantastic planning and organisation.

...To Ivo, for a great talk; for helping to lift everyone's spirits.

And to the stars of the evening, Charlie and Nimrha, who had no idea their evening was going to resemble an episode of Ground Force, so kudos to them both for befriending the lopper like they did.

And to everyone else: the team who came, contributed, filled bag after bag of cut grass and did what we do best.

Until next time.