We met at the glorious Town Hall Hotel this evening, sinking rather too easily into comfy sofas we waited for fellow members to arrive.

A short winter workout

At just after 6:45, we headed out to the steps for a short warm-up before making our way to Bethnal Green Gardens. After locating a good meeting spot, we participated in a short fitness session, taking in a couple of small laps of the park, at various different speeds. We then ran through our single leg squat technique before heading off to meet our task owners, Avril and Nathalia.

After a short intro to get us all a little familiar with this new group that has just been created for Bethnal Green Gardens, we headed to the areas of the park where we were planting tonight’s bulbs.

Providing colour and cheer to any green space, some spring bulbs are also a nectar source for pollinators (plants depend on pollination…). And they can be pretty low maintenance too: the lowly daffodil doesn’t need full sunlight, and will return in subsequent years, even in partial shade.

And so to work

And so we assembled into four teams: three digging holes for bulbs, and one digging up – and relocating – rose bushes.

It was tough, chilly work but as usual the team blitzed it.

Rotating swiftly from digging, to scattering bulbs, and covering them over, it was a multi-task-task.

As the final hole was covered over, and the last head torch switched off, we reflected it was an evening well spent.

We posed for one final picture, where our Sree​ took centre stage as we celebrated her 100th good deed at tonight’s task. Well done Sree, and thanks for all you bring to GoodGym Tower Hamlets.

We then headed our separate ways: some to the pub; others back to the hotel, and some straight home. A great night indeed.

Shout-outs

Loads of shout-outs tonight!

• To Rosie, and Sam, who headed up the run to the park.

• A big cheer for Emma, who oversaw the hole-digging; helped get it started, and allocated members to different locations.

• ...And to Sree for tonight’s brilliant pun.

• ...And to Alex, for organising Sree's 100th deed celebrations.

Next week, we return to The Royal London Hospital to join Nancy and the Barts Volunteers for some seasonal activity.

Until then.

It’s official: come rain or shine, Monday night is the official blues-beater.

13 chilly GoodGymers joined for tonight’s task, in Bromley-By-Bow.

Although damp, dark and windy (again), the prospect of getting together and getting a decent workout in such an enjoyable environment proved irrestistable to tonight’s study team.

Background to the task

Local schools, parishioners, residents; gardeners, dog-walkers… all are playing an important part in the restoration of this historic, pretty new park area.

Under the careful eye of the Bow Church team, headed up by Larry, the green area, St Leonard’s Priory Park, has recently seen the addition of a new hedge, new grass, bundles of blub-planting; the installation of benches - and new sheds to house equipment.

This garden regeneration means that the park will be able to host events, catering to all: from local primary schools to vibrant community groups looking to appeal to as wide a demographic across the area as possible .

Where do GoodGym come in?

Our Monday evening sessions mean a large group of GoodGymers can tackle tough weeds, clear rubble, fill in fox holes and dispose of litter and timber debris making a clear space for the regular gardening and volunteer team to progress quickly.

What we did

We were distributed along the back wall of the park tonight, removing tree branches, weeding, and clearing rubble and litter as we went.

Timber and rubble were ditched in the bin area; sacks of weeds were lifted to the park entrance, and fox holes were filled.

This is a full-on physical task.

The GoodGymers worked at their usual cracking pace, blitzing the area in no time, leaving time to start tackling the pesky fox holes.

Apart from pausing to pose for photos and pun-polling, we worked non-stop for nearly an hour-and-a-quarter.

At 8:15, we lugged the final sack to the exit, turned off head torches, and posed for one last time.

Fantastic work, team!

Shout-outs to you all, for your productivity and tenacity on a chilly November night.

A special shout-out to Rahul, who came up with this evening’s cracking pun.

Next week, we return to the Devon’s Road area, for The Big Bulb-Plant with the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

Until then.

Not only was it dark, it was windy and, by the time we were well on our way to last night’s task, it was exceptionally wet too.

Hey-ho. Lucky it takes more than a bit of rain to dampen a GoodGymer’s spirits.

And so we congregated, one by one, under the arch at St Leonard’s Priory, in Bromley-By-Bow.

Why were we here?

St Leonard’s Priory Park is a community led project with Bow Church, its parishioners and local residents. The site boasts a hefty 1000 years of history that is slowly being revitalised by locals.

The weekly gardening volunteer group make a good dent in the large amount of work that is required to transform this space into a well-used resource and haven, but tonight a large-ish group of GoodGymers came in very handy shifting rubble and wood to make way for a new hedge.

After task owner Larry offered us a bit of background to the project and the site, along with instructions and the relevant health and safety info, we proceeded to spread out along the area in front of the large wall at the back of the park.

Our job was to clear this area of the large amount of rubble, weeds, wood and litter that’s currently occupying this space.

It was a challenging task initially, setting up lights and figuring out where to work in the dark and wind, but soon the rain stopped, conditions calmed, and all became clear.

GoodGymers worked both solo and in pairs, filling wheelbarrows with rubble; tackling weeds, and lugging logs and large bags of weeds to their dedicated piles in the corner of the garden.

To say this was a physical task was an understatement.

But, as we reflected throughout the evening, also an enormously rewarding one, as we worked lats and quads, squatting down to hurl another large brick onto the pile.

In no time at all, the area began to resemble a nice open space, all ready for a hedge.

We decided to call it a day a little before 8, leaving a good-sized area for our return visit in a fortnight.

With barrows returned; tools stacked and a final picture posed for, we left Larry to re-stack the shed, already excited for our return and another fun, bracing workout in this magical space.

Coming up next week...

At next week’s Monday activity, we enjoy a picturesque, after-dark workout at Victoria Park’s beautiful Bonner Gate, before heading to Globe Town for a little light leafleting activity.

Until then.

It was fantastic to be making our way back to the Royal London this evening, to join the team from Barts Volunteers for a busy evening in the volunteer offices, at John Harrison House.

One by one the GoodGymers joined, making their way from a drizzly Whitechapel Road to the hospital’s main reception where we were warmly greeted by Nancy, Tom and Richard from Barts Volunteers.

Chocolate and tunes

Making our way over to John Harrison House, home to many GoodGym tasks over the years now, we proceeded to head to the first floor, where our task awaited us, along with the best Halloween playlist and a large tub of Roses.

Initially divided into three teams, two teams, including first time GoodGymer Shobana (welcome Shobana!), focused on the activity packs and activities, sorting these items on behalf of the Patient and Family Contact Centre, while the third team embarked on the vast task of compiling new patient feedback files. These consisted of patient feedback questionnaires in many languages, housed in individual files for every hospital ward.

These questionnaires play an essential role in helping the hospital receive and respond to the feedback given by all patients.

GoodGymers devised various individual systems, rehydrating regularly, and replenishing glycogen stores with Cadbury’s finest.

Every so often the laughter and chatter was punctuated with some group song identification, as we figured out our faves from Britney and Shakira’s top tracks.

To say the time flew was an understatement.

The Final Countdown

Our last final pics captured the last file being stacked to the backdrop of The Final Countdown and lots of waving hands as we posed for the final song of the night, We Are The Champions.

Our final fantastic celebrations included a shout-out of shout-outs for Southwark’s Olivia’s 50th good deed, and our very own Fiona’s 50th good deed too.

What a wonderful night.

Until next time.