We started today’s session with a lap around the garden, although I think the real leader of the run was the very energetic dog who came along with us! There was definitely no shortage of energy!

After our lap, we got stuck into some litter picking. There was only one glove between the four of us, so we had to take turns, but we still managed to fill a whole bag with rubbish! Not bad for a quick and easy task.

It was also Ros's first GoodGym session, so it was lovely to have her join us! Hopefully this is just the beginning, and I can’t wait to see how far she goes with GoodGym

A simple Sunday session, but a good one — especially with one very enthusiastic four-legged team member! 🐶

Monday night was another big one at Cranbrook Community Centre!

We got stuck into improving the outside areas, with plenty of leaf picking, clearing up and getting the garden looking a little more loved. Lucinda also came prepared with the lights and made sure everyone had gloves, which definitely came in handy as it started getting darker!

We also had a couple of new faces join us, including someone doing their very first GoodGym session! It was lovely to have them join us at Cranbrook, and hopefully we’ll see them back here again soon

But the biggest celebration of the evening was for Kareem, who completed his 100th GoodGym session! 🎉 It was also his last session with us for a while as he’s moving on to his next plans, so it was a lovely way to mark the occasion. We’ll definitely miss having him around, and wishing him all the best with whatever comes next!

A big thank you to everyone who came along, got stuck in and helped make a difference to the outside space. Another Monday night well spent!

Lady Andrea was quick to invite GoodGym to host a stall at St Matthew's community event to celebrate the church's 280th birthday. A lot of people were interested to hear about us, and many took our flyers. I also had a lady from a community organisation asking for our help, so look out for a brand new task on a future Monday night! We also got to sample the buffet, climbed the church tower, listened to a history talk, got a demonstration of the organ, rang the bells and saw the inner workings of the clock

Our only panic came when we emerged from the tower to find our precious GoodGym flag had disappeared! After some detective work, we discovered that Lady Andrea had taken it home for safe keeping. So we got to see the fantastic collection of plants on her balcony!

This month's social gardening club saw Sam and Future Leader Rasheed team up for the first time. The front garden outside No.19, which is the old residence of the former boss of St Margarets House, was being desperately overrun with wisteria so we got to work with shears, trying to remove the vine's roots wherever possible.

The next St Margarets House social gardening club is on Wednesday 21st October 4-7pm, hope to see you there!

REPORT BY NAZIFA

St Matthew’s Gardens had certainly accumulated its fair share of leaves, so it was time for the GoodGym crew to get involved! 🍂

The task was mainly focused on clearing leaves from around the garden and churchyard, with a little bit of litter picking thrown in too. There were* A LOT* of leaves to tackle, but everyone got stuck in. We picked, swept, gathered and bagged them up, with plenty of bags being filled along the way

I made sure everyone had bags to collect the leaves in, and it was great seeing everyone working together to clear the paths and tidy up the area. There was definitely no shortage of leaves, but we managed to make a good dent in them!

It was also my first time leading a GoodGym session, so I was really happy with how everything went. As Emma would say, I can’t “be-leaf”it was my first one!

A big thank you to everyone who came along and helped out. It was a really good experience for my first time leading, and I think we all did a great job

Willow did not join me to mow MsS’s lawn, though I think she would have enjoyed exploring the garden and snuggling up with MsS. Alas, I didn’t have gloves with me and couldn’t get to work pulling impressive dandelions at mid thigh height which would have been too much for MsS’s trusty mowing machine. Instead, we sat at the kitchen table and I learnt quite a lot about the history of this little pocket of Tower Hamlets. We enjoyed a friendly chat, but most importantly we agreed that this task will need to be put up again. No need for mowers, definite need for gloves.