We were all set for tonight’s task – confirmed yesterday evening..But then, well into this afternoon, I was told there’d be no-one to look after us at the canal club. A substitute task was set up at St Matthews, and I sent round a message and an email, All this took me away from my work-work, so if you hear that the Government has missed its housing targets, it’s because we missed going to the canal club

St Matthews is a handy reserve venue; Lady Andrea said we can drop in any time, recklessly entrusting me with the gate key as well as the top-secret code for the shed. I left a hand-written notice at the site of the original task, in case somebody didn’t get the message, but I think everyone picked up on the change. Unless Northern Emma is still waiting vainly at the canal club gates now

Having the key is one thing. Successfully navigating the heavy, rusty old gate is another. Thankfully, this panic was soon over, thanks to Emmanuel who helped me unlock it, and then later Sam who assisted with locking it up again

No-one seemed keen to weed in the dark, but never mind, there were plenty of leaves to be gathered. Unfortunately we only had one - admittedly very large – bag, and the capacity of the bin by the gate was well below our leaf-gathering potential. But we soon found what looked like a composting area, with abundant room for fallen fronds

Everyone chipped in to help. Ilana held a spade to stop it falling over. Kate set a 2026 course record for the largest leaf volume collected by a single leaf-grabber. Lucinda sent a proxy but still arrived with nearly half the task remaining. Adam helped both Ciarán (with his survey) and Emma (with her furniture). And the latter indulged in her unique style of aerial photography to capture the group photo

Seriously, it was fun meeting you Isabela, hope to see you at many more, better organised tasks. Good to see you back, Kate and Kirsti. Get well soon, Northern Emma. And best wishes to Lady Andrea of this parish, who is recovering well from a serious operation. And has been short-listed by Tower Hamlets In Bloom for best balcony!

I enjoyed a glorious sunny (though blustery) hour walking through Victoria Park to purchase three sets of perennial plants to help bring joy to Ms S so she can enjoy views of her back garden for years to come. Having helped MsS navigate online shopping and purchase a hose lock the last time I visited, today’s task included fixing and locking it in place.

It was a busy evening at Oceans Youth Connections, with plenty of jobs to keep everyone occupied.

We had a bit of everything to get through, from sweeping, vacuuming and mopping the floors inside to leaf picking and weeding outside. With so much to do, we split ourselves into different areas, switching around whenever we fancied a change of task.

Everyone got stuck in, and with so many helping hands, we managed to get through plenty of work.

It was also lovely to see so many new faces joining us this evening, especially those attending their very first GoodGym session. Hopefully having such a big group made it an enjoyable first experience, and we’ll be seeing them again soon.

A busy but lovely evening, with plenty of teamwork and a great turnout. Thank you to everyone who came along and got involved!

It was a short stop to visit MsS after work this evening. The already dismantled garden table was moved along with the rusty bike to the front garden, ready to be collected by the council’s bulk waste collection team in the morning.

A group of us gathered on a still warm October eve to help Ken with some bulb planting. We worked in a small area of the cemetery park and planted over 250 crocuses. These will flower in the new year and enhance the wild beautiful look of the park.

A light mist descended on us as we took up our trowels and starting digging deep (as deep as the trowel to protect those bulbs from hungry squirrels)! It was dark as we started, but we were equipped with our headtorches and spotlights, diligently gardening among the grass and graves as the bats flew overhead. Some worked so ferociously that even the tools were no match for their pure strength!

A big welcome to Jo and Beate joining us for your first task! It was great to have you there and an enjoyable Monday evening. Hope to see you again soon!

Four intrepid GoodGymers rose early this morning to help Chris and the rest of the lovely Friends of Arnold Circus and wider volunteering crew for the annual Autumn Plant Fair. The usual grab and carry action ensued to ensure nurseries could get their vans unloaded and produce on display atop predominantly hessian covered trestle tables around the band stand.

Some time was spent attempting to help green-thumbed stall-holders find what proved to be limited parking options.

I'd like to welcome Grace who joined after everything had been set up but left a favourable first impression with Chris who said she was friendly and keen to help.