The one with the lifts.

This is what GoodGym is all about. Friendship, heavy lifting, connection and sore muscles.

On Saturday we helped Barking Food Forest prepare the ground for the new shed, rainwater tanks and vegetable planters.

Pretty standard stuff, right?

Nah. We lifted the shed from its current position (notice 1st lifted structure) and got down to work with the soil. Level it up, folks! Yes, ax pick your way through that soil. Are your muscles burning? Good sign!

Now, lets lift that water tank (notice 2nd lifted structure) and move it behind the shed! Classic PIVOT! PIVOT! PIVOT! moment. Check out our insta reel for all that GoodGym goodness.

By now, we got 25 minutes left in our community mission. The ground is weedless, quite levelled, the water tank is now comfortably behind the shed and after some slight acrobatics from superstar-volunteer from Barking Food Forest we are all at ground level wondering how much more levelled that does this area needs to be. Apparently much more. As we were.

But, hey is that another water tank at the opposite end of Barking Food Forest? Yes, it is and we want it to sit on top of the first one. After a dynamic risk assessment (fancy H&S terminology, brownie point) we lifted the tank (notice 3rd lifted structure), moved it from one end to another, PIVOT! PIVOT! PIVOT! and up it goes.

Another classic community mission at GoodGym Barking & Dagenham.

So...

...after sitting on my bum all day working from home, the temptation was strong to move to the sofa and do more sitting.

I was tired, it was Monday, but...

...earlier in the day I had signed up to tonight's session with GoodGym B&D. Now I was accountable - to other GoodGymmers, and the host partner AbPhab Youth Club. Doing more sitting was now not an option!

This is the great thing about GoodGym B&D - it provides the motivation needed to get up off your bum and do something active & useful in the gap between work and dinner.

Setting off from Upney Station at 5.45pm, I took a very gentle job through Mayesbrook Park towards AbPhab Youth Club. Struggling at first, once I got to the park I really noticed the blue sky (yes, the sun was still up at 6pm!) and started to feel more energised and alert.

Arriving at AbPhab 20 minutes later, I met fellow GoodGymmer Austin - giving each other a very smug welcome as we knew we'd made the right choice coming to GoodGym tonight. Smug welcome over - Sarah & Kelly from AbPhab briefed us with tonight's task, and revealed there was pizza on offer (result!)

We got stuck into weeding the 10 planters and adding top soil - ready for young people to plant-out their seedlings (beans, peas, carrots and spinach). Task complete, we did a speedy weeding session at the opposite end of the garden, clearing up a very overgrown area.

Wrapping up the session with some selfies, snacks and a nice chat with Deputy Manager Kelly about upcoming tasks.

GoodGym will be back at AbPhab again soon to help replace weed control fabric and pebbles, as well as freshen up the planters with a lick of paint - find out more about these upcoming sessions on the website here

Change of plans? No problem! We tossed our plans out with the litter (carefully bagged and securely tied rubbish sacks 🚮) or piled it alongside the compost 🪱

Life happens, & that’s OK 👌

A wonderful group of women from Gale Street Organic Garden, Elevate Together, and GoodGym came together this Sunday to care for the soil and prep it for spring planting 🌱

So it happened that, on International Women’s Day, four of us gathered to tend to our great mother, Earth 🌍.

Places alone do not create sustainability; people in relationships do🧑‍🤝‍🧑🔗🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Amongst chatting, laughs and hard work, we got the alt. work done. Finishing off with dirty hands and full hearts ❤️‍🔥 There’s something quietly magical about people working together for the benefit of people and the planet.

Fancy doing some vital work to help get the garden ready to welcome the community? Join us next Sunday, 15th March at 2pm.

Hola! Virginia here from the Barking & Dagenham team sharing the latest from our community partner AbPhab Youth Club.

🌧️ We’re busy turning rainy Mondays into a weekly highlight at the AbPhab Youth Club ✨

🧑🏽‍🌾 Week 2 was all about the real work. We spent a solid hour tackling weeds and debating everything from panel shows to “what actually counts as a weed anyway?” (Spoiler: if it’s in the way, it’s out!). ☘️

🏁 We finished off the session with hot drinks and a snack, thanks to the wonderful team at AbPhab – the perfect reward for a rainy evening’s work. 🍵

Fancy doing something a bit different on a Monday evening? Come join us! Every Monday in March we are getting the AbPhab Youth Club garden ready for spring.

See you next Monday for more gardening, gathering and good times –come rain or shine!

”Wow, mini-Soreen bars. You are surely spoiling us?”

Steven here - GoodGym B&D Area Activator. On Monday evening fellow GoodGymmer Virginia and I visited AbPhab Youth Club for our first mission of the year in their garden.

Used by young people that attend the centre, over the coming weeks GoodGym B&D will be helping make improvements to the garden ready for the Spring.

Kelly - one of AbPhab's amazing youth workers - gave us a warm welcome when we arrived and proudly showed us the refreshments available for us whilst volunteering in the garden - hot drinks, fruit, biscuits and - yes - mini Soreen bars! Delicious.

Deputy Manager Sarah gave us a friendly hello from the kitchen - she was busy cooking and serving hot meals to young people in attendance.

Tea's made, we got stuck in weeding an area at the back of the garden opposite the vegetable planters whilst chatting about @Virginia's recently completed TaskForce training. Congratulations Virginia on joining GoodGym B&D TaskForce!

We also spoke about Sarah & Kelly’s exciting plans for the garden. This year they want to grow a wider range of vegetables, salads and herbs for young people to use in activities. Not only cooking, but other creative activities such as making skin care products from fresh herbs grown in the garden!

We'll be returning to AbPhab every Monday evening for the next 5 weeks - sign up to a session here now!

Emma, my fellow parkrunner, and her husband arrived with bags full of winter wear and today was a great day to start sharing.

Winter can be devastating for people sleeping rough: temperatures drop sharply, dampness seeps into clothes and bedding, and the risks of hypothermia, respiratory illness and isolation increase dramatically. Even small items like gloves, socks or a thermos can make the difference between coping and crisis. Being able to start distributing this generous donation today meant immediate comfort for people who often feel forgotten.

Alongside the clothing shared was the usual selection of books and a brand new addition: sketchpads for doodling and drawing.

Books offer homeless people entertainment; they bring moments of calm, dignity and mental escape. Stories can offer hope, distraction and emotional grounding.

Non fiction can help build skills or confidence. Sketchpads add a creative outlet that doesn’t demand anything; just space for expression, identity and imagination. For someone facing daily instability, creativity can offer a rare sense of peace.

Today also included a second outing: a visit to the Barking River Guardians volunteer day at Highbridge Road, where Noel, another parkrun pal and local residents gathered to begin shaping a new community garden. From shifting soil to removing dead trees, the energy was warm and determined. It was a reminder that small, local actions stitch communities together just as much as the big ones.

GoodGym missions exist exactly for that purpose: to help older residents, support charities and improve local spaces while keeping volunteers active and connected. They turn good intentions into real life support.

And Bookbike remains a vital community asset because it brings people, compassion, conversation and practical help directly to where they’re needed - no barriers, no judgement, just care on two wheels.

Thanks to our Area Activator Steven for setting up this opportunity.

#bookbikelondon #goodgym #homeless #homelesslondon #thewanderinglondoner