Plogging is pretty standard for the GGR crew, with the topic of conversations varying widely.

This time round it felt quite seasonal... with the subject of what to do when finding a dead boy while litter picking kicking things off. Short version: does it count as an additional task sorting out a body?

2x two bags of litter left for the council to pick up, with some broken street lights to report as well.

A very productive session this morning to spruce up the planters at Hainault station:

• Sharon was in charge of a big job of picking out the rubbish and cigarette butts and also sweeping someone's attempt at 'help' (someone scooped out a lot of cigarette butts out of the planters onto the floor underneath!). Sharon also topped up the fresh soil and got rid of some of the dried out weeds. great job!
• I was in charge of the full watering and filling of the water reservoirs, it was definitely a workout and by the end my arms were in pain!

great good deed on Sunday morning! Next step is to get some fresh autumn flowers to brighten up the planters.

Mr and Mrs B had four tricky LED spotlights in their kitchen that needed changing. Mr B had just had a cataract operation so a dark kitchen far from ideal.

What I thought would be a 5 min job turned slightly longer when we realised the bulbs hadn't been changed in years and the casings on LED lights were rusted shut. A bit of WD40, a hammer, a screwdriver did the job and we eventually got the old bulbs out and the new ones in.

Job done and I was soon off running through Wanstead Park on the way home. I completely forgot to take any photos of the task so here are some horses from the run home and me with my tongue out. Enjoy.

5 GGR foodbank regulars turned up today to pick and pack for Frenford Foosbank.

Ed and Linda started setting everything up soon joined by AJ who was keen to start her last shift with GGUK before moving to the USA. AJ has been a keen supporter of GG food banks across the boroughs and has already scoped out food banks stateside so she can help out across the pond. 🙌🏻

Massive kudos goes out to Peter and Kathryn who gave up days off work to come help out, especially as Kathryn was under par due to dental work and also roped in her Mum to help. 🤩

Along with other volunteers we soon got 47 packages picked and packed ready to go just taking a small break to snack on Victor the Vegan Caterpillar (made from fruit as we've had too much left over cake lately) to help celebrate Peters belated 50th Birthday and AJ's forthcoming adventures 🤗

Perhaps not the most successful of alliteration attempts, but also not the worst?

Regulars James & Peter went for a stroll and collected 2 bags of litter, with 2 more large objects to be logged on the council website for their attention.

interesting discussion about linguistics - might need more input in future sessions!

P.S.... is James guarding the door to control who comes in, or who can go out....? 🤔

P.P.S.... the phone number on the card leads to UCKG helpcentre, in case one wondered.

As the title already implies, the planned babybank session this evening sadly fell through - locked doors and nobody appearing with a key and the code to the alarm.

WhatsApp message left, number called & voicemail left, but no response so there was not much else to do than to pack up and make our different ways home again.

On the positive side, we did get the chance to meet the lovely Jo on her first Goodgym experience - not quite the best 1st impression with the task dropping out like this. Do give her a cheer for at least making her way down on a day where transport options are very much under pressure.

The same traffic issues led to regulars Linda & AJ having to pull out, with apologies received.

Fingers crossed a babybank sessio will be re-instated soon - watch this space, or better said the Goodgym website!