Paul Cornick
Newham
Doing good since October 2014
127Good deeds
389runs
175cheers
Newham
OverTrelllis Much?
The humidity of the day continued into the eve, a few of us met at base willing to perspire freely. We discussed our favourite documentaries; The Staircase, a murder mystery series based on a true story. The Alpinist, following the life of a fearless and reserved young ice climber. Alex Scott's documentary delve into women's football. And I'm not sure what Paul said, or if he did indeed give us an answer. We'll confirm next week.
The jobs were abundant at Up Garden, where Kev, Shaz and Tony met us. From moving water butts, rearranging the shed, shifting large trunks, rearranging the palates, clearing and weeding a sizeable plot, laying iron railings against the weeds, moving several planters, shifting a large batch of timber and repositioning some hefty stones.....and breathe.
Pretty hard to fathom that we completed all of that, but we did. Suzanne's can do attitude and meticulous organisation certainly helps. Massive pat on the back for that preposterously effective session.
Next week, Sharon or Kev will officially lead, as I'm away on hols in France. Old favourite Cody Dock is in store, sign up here
Have a cracker and see you'll in a fortnight.
Till then,
B
Newham
Run To Help The Up Garden
The Up Garden reached out to us recently to help with their wonderful vision. Could we help develop another community hub, akin to Cody Dock, in the coming months and years? A lush green oasis for those that need it. Where people grow, share and talk.
Session 1 was awesome. We shifted circa 50 bags of shingle, moved planters and much more. Get down for the next session and see what's in store.
Outcome The UP Garden is deliberately located on a housing estate (where residents are disproportionately subject to health, environmental and financial inequalities) in order to benefit those who need it most. Due to limited funding, planters are the most effective way of maximising the amount of green cover. In order to launch The UP Garden in summer and not lose our awarded funding, we need to start planting by the end of June, so need planters ready for then!
Description We need to make planters so we have somewhere to grow plants. We aim to pre-cut as much of the wood as possible so that volunteers only have to put them together, following a prototype that has already been built. The planters will then need a coat of oil, and a few require a coat of paint.
See you all then
B
Newham
Digging In
Grey skies yesterday compensated for by bright smiles, the kind of smiles you get from helping completely transform a small public space in just under an hour. To top it off we welcomed Tony, usually found in Waltham Forest and Dimple, who Paul expertly guided to our community embrace. Hope you both had a decent eve with us, was great to meet you both.
Chit chat was had first in the form of our Random Weekly Question, it wasn't that random as my brain has dried up, however it was insightful: "what was the highlight of your weekend?" Playing with your cat. Going to a music festival. Constructing a massive shed for one of our GoodGym partners. Having a drink with old uni pals. Attending a wedding in Hayes Marina. Looks like we had a bit of everything, Small joys to the bigger life events, and everything in between.
We made the jog over as one unit, then realised we didn't actually know where we going... I had one job. It was quickly rectified as we nipped around the corner to find the group. We established our roles and began weeding, digging, planting and watering. The large delivery of plants was the priority, get them in the ground and give them water. The ground was rock solid, but we dug hard and persevered. A lovely selection of succulents, long ornamental grasses, vegetables and more were planted in. Circa an hour later, we took another look at our efforts, enjoyed some kind words from the locals and jogged back in a few different directions.
Next week we head back to the amazing Up Garden, sign up here. This wonderful upcycled garden is where the team built a shed last week, they've got loads to do so any help much needed.
See you fine folk there,
Till then
B
Newham
Greening Stratford Village Neighborhood
A brilliant local effort to create communal green spaces has cropped up in response to covid. We're heading there for our second session, first time round we helped spread a tonne or two of compost. This time we are helping to plant a large delivery of flowers and shrubs. Especially timed for our arrival!
. See below for a gist of the project:
"Since April 2020, we have been working together to improve our streets to make them healthier, livelier, more inclusive and welcoming spaces for everyone. Spurred by a first lockdown due to COVID-19 in Spring 2020, we started improving our mini green spaces with our own means, ad-hoc planting and clearing. We’re ready to move to the next stage to include more residents and invest in plants and materials to make our mini gardens come to life!"
- Create a community vegetable garden in Tennyson Road
- Create two green corners, with an attractive and diverse bed of plants
- Create a community orchard in Mark Street
- Install rain water gathering facilities for 2 sites
- Install signs and messaging to inform people of the project and how to get involved
- Plant 4 trees
- Plant 30 shrubs and bushes
- Plant thousands of bulbs and wildflowers
See you lovely lot then,
B
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