You know that autumn's here (even if the thermometer is trying hard to convince you otherwise), when evening group tasks involve (a lot of) leaf sweeping, and so it was for Graham, Eugene, Hilary and I once we'd convened at Ange's place, aka the Hackney Adventure playground. Armed with brooms, rakes, spades and a bag big enough for a small family to shelter under, we quickly got to work clearing the basketball court/football pitch of leaves, branches and other deposits...

We'd like to say there was some method applied to how we went about the task, but that would be overstating things somewhat, although our biggest challenge was staying ahead of the gusts which blew inconsiderately and kept depositing more debris onto the playing surface just when we thought we were winning, but after 45 minutes of pretty vigorous sweeping, piling up and bagging, the court/pitch was once more ready for play, and it would've been rude if we hadn't given it a try out...suffice to say we're clearly better suited to sweeping than we are at hooping...

Another classic GoodGym Saturday in Newham — with Graham and I warming up at Wanstead Flats parkrun before heading over to Emmanuel Church for some hands-on autumn action.

Eugene, running in from Bow, had already arrived, and shortly after Team Prince jogged in. We were warmly welcomed by Sybil and the team, who had all the tools ready and jobs lined up. The main task: tackling the leaves that had taken over the church grounds, and giving some of the trees and shrubs a prune and tidy-up.

With plenty of teamwork (and a fair bit of leaf-bag-lifting cardio), we managed to fill around 30 bags of leaves — transforming the space in the process. The church gardens looked fresher, cleaner, and far less autumn-overwhelmed by the end!

Sybil and the crew treated us to a well-earned mac and cheese — a great post-task reward (unless you're Sharon, who inexplicably doesn't like cheese sauce) and a lovely chance to sit down together and chat.

A huge thanks to Sybil and everyone at Emmanuel Church for the warm hospitality, and to all the team who came out to lend a hand. Great teamwork, good laughs, and a truly satisfying task.

A beautiful Sunday morning, Graham and Rosa went for a nice run in Victoria park on the way to Chandos Road gardens, where the locals have applied for some funds to plant some wild flowers. The rough idea is to make it look like Tuscany, and they’re planning sit out there on summer evenings sipping on aperol spritzs… or so I understand

The wild flowers need some sandy ground to grow in so they had had three big bags of sand delivered, but it needed moving across the park. Many lovely folks from the neighbourhood pitched in with shovels and wheelbarrows. With a big joint effort we were able to get the sand moved over and spread out where the wildflowers are to be planted in just under an hour!

Well done everyone! We look forward to seeing how those seeds grow!

My trek from Royal Docks Pharmacy to Miss S's flat with medicine bag in hand, provided I follow the "usual" route, takes me past a front garden containing a quite surreal collection of gnomes of all shapes and sizes. As a reference point it's useful as it shows I'm close to the drop off point, as a source of amusement it brightens the walk every time!

Last night, GoodGym Newham headed out to support the Friends of Chandos Road Gardens, clearing autumn leaves from the streets and litter from the children’s playground.

Nick arrived first and got straight to work on litter picking, setting the pace for the session. Graham walked over despite recovering from a football-related injury — we wish him a swift recovery! Kev arrived after a run, and then Rosa, Eugene, and I did a little group run, taking the scenic route from the Aquatics Centre to join in.

Armed with rakes, bags and shovels, we tackled the leaves lining the street and rubbish scattered around the playground. Among the items collected were stray wrappers, cups, and even a lonely teddy bear!

We were also joined by volunteers and local residents from Chandos Road, who continued the cleanup after we left, finishing the job and collecting all the bagged leaves and rubbish for the council. Great to see the community come together to make the streets and playground cleaner and safer.

📅 Upcoming Tasks

We don't currently have anything lined up next Tuesday, but we do have the following brilliant tasks coming up not long after:

Saturday 8th Nov: Parkrun and then gardening at Emmanuel Church

Tuesday 11th: Hackney Marsh Adventure Playground

Thanks to everyone who came along today — with our combined efforts, Chandos Road is looking brighter, tidier, and ready for everyone to enjoy! 🌿

A slightly different task for GoodGym Newham this week, as we took the opportunity to spread some positive messages in the community. Hope not Hate organised a "weekend of hope" on 18-19 October, aiming to distribute nearly a million flyers across the UK supporting diversity in our local communities. GoodGym Newham got our hands on some flyers and did our bit for the Stratford area. We were a small but efficient group, with a system that at least 2 out of 3 of us followed, and before we knew it we'd triumphantly delivered the final flyer and crossed the metaphorical finish line. We even managed to fit in a chatty 5k run around the Olympic Park beforehand! Well done team.