Across the balcony from each flat on the Parkview Estate is a planter, visible to anyone walking through the estate. Many of the planters contain colourful flowers, giving the estate a much brighter look and countering the graffiti and litter to be found in some areas. But some of the planters are full of nothing but dry earth, a few twigs, and maybe a weed or two.Which is where GoodGym come in

We met in the community garden, a familiar place to us by now, except for Sam, who still got there eventually. “Have you seen Sam?” asked Emma”. Yes, he’s walking up behind you” I replied. Soon we were loaded with buckets of soil, a wheelbarrow (which we somehow took up in the lift), filled watering cans, and those all-important geraniums

Local knowledge was provided by Seb, a resident of the estate, as well as task owner Catherine, a long-time friend of GoodGym who also provided a cheat-key to enable us to get into the block

Some residents already had one or two plants opposite their front door, so we asked them if they minded us filling the gaps with a couple of geraniums. However, one resident who said “yes”, was unsure what “the missus” would think when she returned

Eventually, we’d flowered the whole of the Sidney House block. But there are other Parkview blocks which would appreciate the same treatment, so put a date in your diary for 13th June and sign up for our next visit at https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/parkview-free-plant-giveaway-538b5ba6-27b0-4fcd-97c1-317997cbd35a

A large group of Goodgymers gathered to help Ken at the Cemetery Park. Our mission: To remove cow parsley to make way for more biodiversity.

We set to work, eagerly pulling up the roots. Some of us with more ease than others! We moved methodically from one patch to the next and it was satisfying to see the impact we made in such a short space of time. See the photos!

Among the greenery lurked some goosegrass, very familiar to us from a previous task, so we also pulled up this sticky weed as we went.

Shout out to Jade for her first Goodgym mission and to Kevin for his first Tower Hamlets mission. Thanks for your hard work and dedication to the cause! And well done everyone for a great evening's work!

It was a bright day in May, and the clock was striking 15:48. Yes, it was the first ever GoodGym bell-ringing social! The secret, according to task owner Lady Andrea (she’s really a Lady!), is to pull down sharply and just hold steady. Which various GoodGymers succeeded in doing, and all of them (well, apart from Kate) even stayed on the ground! The bells peeled out and the local populace probably emerged from their homes expecting a church service, some kind of jubilee, or just the surprisingly early arrival of four o’clock

Earlier, we did fulfil our usual “big-Monday night task”, albeit in the afternoon this time, with our efforts endorsed by the good Lady, who gave us "many thanks to all who attended". Emma J was trying to unearth a stubborn root, while litter duties were undertaken by Ilana, Fiona (all the way from Highams Park) and Jackie (all the way from Camden Town). Meanwhile Jack (all the way from Redbridge), Chloe (all the way from the next block but one) and Kevin beavered away at the growing plot, oblivious to some mayhem going on nearby

Four GoodGymers struggled for some time to separate a large bush from the earth beneath, then Lucinda arrived from nowhere (Tooting), applied her well-practiced carpet-rolling technique, and the roots just surrendered. Emma R was doing excellent work manoevering the dug-up weeds, dead leaves and large picked-up branches into small bags, while Emma J was pulling furiously, in a valiant attempt to unearth the stubborn root

Zak appeared for his first GoodGym and threw himself into the task and the conversation. Louise didn’t sign up until the clock was striking two, but that was nothing to do with us, this time

Nia, fresh from doing her first ever half-marathon - faster than she ever expected - introduced us to a first-timer, Alex. In contrast, Kate is a veteran, having undertaken her debut task all of three years ago before disappearing to the far North. Meanwhile Emma J was making a sterling effort, trying very hard to unearth that stubborn root

Sam had just about recovered from his amazing efforts in the London marathon, where he somehow evaded the gaze of every mile-24 GoodGym cheerer. Rue kept everyone informed with a stream of fascinating facts, before we moved on to our bell-ringing duties - all apart from Emma J, determined to unearth a stubborn root…