A breezy but bright Monday evening saw 12 GoodGymers head to Columbia Road to help the Columbia TRA with some weeding and mulch distribution.

Following a short workout in Ravenscroft Park (where we welcomed Connie to her first GoodGym Tower Hamlets task) we made our way around the corner to the gardens of Sivill House where Ed, Ed, Liz and Dougal were well preparing the equipment for this evening’s activity.

After a short briefing, we were promptly dispatched into three teams (one distributing mulch; one weeding in the garden by the street, and another weeding in the orchard area).

Shuttling barrows of mulch around the gardens, plucking pesky grass and unwanted dock leaves, the time sped by.

At shortly before 8, we decided to call it a night, emptying the last weed onto the compost pile and the last wheelbarrow of mulch onto the young trees.

A good night’s work, and great to be reunited with the fun Columbia TRA team.

Next week, our Monday night activity’s moved to Wednesday, due to the Bank Holiday, when we’ll be joining Margaret and Ash for another fun evening in-and-around the Hollybush Estate.

Until then.

Monday motivation

A damp evening was no deterrent for tonight’s group of GoodGymers.

Gathering by Columbia Road’s Ravenscroft Park Mosaic, we said our hellos; speculated about the weather (some of us more than others) and assembled new head torches (Emma).

The team sped through ‘the regular moves’ (Bulgarian split squats, single-leg squats, push-ups on the bench), with Emma and Oliver instead opting for a few laps of the park.

It was damp, it was humid - it was also relatively busy - but that didn’t deter tonight’s fitness squad.

At just before 8, we headed ‘round to the Estate gardens to meet Ed and Ed of the Columbia Road TRA.

Why were we here?

This Columbia Road estate is situated in-and-around Columbia Road, sandwiched between Hackney Road and Columbia Road. Managed by Tower Hamlets Homes, the Columbia TRA (a residents’ group living in-and-around the estate) also take a keen interest in maintaining these gardens.

The group are in the process of creating a Forest Garden, a ‘multi-level ecosystem’ (trees at the top, then bushes, flowers, etc) which will enable residents to produce food on the estate, as well as helping to ‘boost’ the environment, by supporting a healthy habitat for birds and bugs.

Today we were completing some planting; spreading woodchip (helps control weeds, and maintain healthy soil), and weeding (gives more space to those plants that are wanted and needed).

Top teamwork

Ed and Ed divided us into four teams: woodchip-shovelling, woodchip-wheeling, planting, and Weeding Teams 1 and 2. But first we enjoyed The Weed Tutorial. As it sounds, this fabulous little Show and Tell enabled the GoodGymers to see, touch and learn about the weeds found in the garden (invaluable when it comes to deciding what’s staying and what’s going on a dark Monday night).

The rain held out, the group size grew, and the time flew. It was a fantastic evening.

It was after 8 before we were gathering equipment and emptying the last bag of mulch.

GoodGymers and Columbia TRA gathered for a final group picture, before heading our separate ways but not before enjoying some much-needed cake, courtesy of Victoria and Emma.

How so?

Tonight we celebrated Emma’s 100th good deed. Joining us in the middle of 2021, Emma promptly clocked up a lot of deeds in a very short space of time, swiftly joined Task Force, and completed the Run Leader training to boot.

A regular GoodGymer and booster of spirits extraordinaire, Emma’s 100th good deed was a celebration for sure.

A wonderful evening all round – well done to all, especially to Fiona for tonight’s cool pun, and to Greta, who joined us for her first GoodGym session and did great! Hope to see you again soon Greta!

Next week, we head to The Royal London Hospital!

Until then.

The workout...

Busy Ravenscroft Park was a delight in which to start tonight’s session, with a little pre-task workout.

No fewer than 6 runners gathered around the largest planter in the park to whizz through the obligatory dips, incline push ups, several different types of seated leg lower, and some new squat techniques.

The task...

After being met by task owners Ed and Liz, we all wandered over to Sivill House, to greet the rest of the group and get the lowdown on tonight’s task.

What were we here to do?

Spread woodchip!

Yes, thanks to a large donation of woodchip, the productive, committed Columbia TRA were keen to have some additional pairs of hands join their team (Ed, Ed and Liz this evening) tonight to help distribute this around the estate’s many young fruit trees.

(Used in this way, woodchip can help to maintain the moisture of the soil and reduce the volume of weeds).

Ed wasted no time in briefing the group as to how best to tackle the vast task of getting tonnes of woodchip to some of the furthest points on the estate. This included an informative short tour so we knew where we were headed.

And so to work we went, with one crew ready to distribute around one of the gardens to the back of the estate (already a fruit paradise with some very decent raspberries); another shovelling barrow after barrow of woodchip, and a third wheeling to designated fruit tree-hotspots.

With the main areas completed, Ed took one team off to another totally new area to finish the job for the night, a spot towards the Columbia Road, front of the estate.

By the time we’d finished packing away the last wheelbarrow and woodchip bag, it was after 8, so we said our cheerios, and headed home.

A brilliant evening of very physical activity – well done everyone (and big shout-out to Sree for tonight’s fun pun).

Next week, we return to the Cranbrook Community Garden to help Janet finish the The Big Gardening Job, complete with pre-task workout.

Until then.

We returned to the lovely Town Hall Hotel last night for a short run to our task on Columbia Road.

It was a gorgeous evening to sit on the steps and catch up on the weekend news: all the latest from Shindig, and what we would be doing this evening.

At 6:45 we ran through a couple of warm-up exercises on the steps before heading out on tonight's run.

Ivo and John led the route this evening, taking us down Old Bethnal Green road, a quieter route, perfect for a leisurely run. As we turned the corner of Gosset Street into Columbia Road, we found Ed waiting patiently for us with a large bag of woodchip.

Our task for tonight

Tonight we were joining Ed and Ed (not a typo) from Columbia Tenants and Residents Association to help distribute the new woodchip around the borders for the new trees and plants in the Orchard area. (Woodchip can help soil retain moisture, deter weeds and acts as a boundary between plant and mower).

Having been introduced to the two types of woodchip this evening, we moved to the Orchard area to meet the other Ed who was busy distributing cardboard around the plants to be woodchipped.

Having received great instructions on the plan, we divided into three teams: one shovelling woodchip into barrows; one wheeling the barrows around to the orchard and the third distributing the woodchip around the young trees and plants.

There was quite the variety of bushes and trees with edible produce here, from strawberries to gooseberries; pears and blackcurrants.

As the first woodchip pile was finished, a small team was then assigned to planting, while a new watering team proceeded to wet all the newly-laid woodchip and plants.

At shortly after 8, we started the task of wrapping up, culminating in a group shot inside the woodchip bag (not a typo).

Going our various ways, we said our goodbyes, thanking Ed and Ed for a lovely evening in Columbia Road orchard.

Heading slowly back towards the Hotel, the running group chatted and ran at leisurely pace, stopping at the lights for a final stroll.

Shout outs A shout-out to the whole team tonight for some brilliant work, but especially to Ivo and John for leading tonight's run.

Next week

...we return to the Parkview Estate on the edge of Victoria Park, to see Catherine, Liam and Seb, who will be guiding us through a big tree-watering task.

Until then.

At tonight’s big Monday night activity, we were back in Bethnal Green’s lovely Town Hall Hotel, enjoying this warm and welcoming environment before heading out to tonight’s task.

The schedule consisted of a short workout, Strength Training for Cyclists, to celebrate GoodGym’s new partnership with Raleigh, followed by a 1.6-mile run down to Columbia Road for a big woodchip-shifting session.

The workout

GoodGymers were fantastically pragmatic about heading out into the rain for tonight’s workout. Making our way to Peel Grove, the runners ran through a few speedy moves, to support cycling efforts (and general fitness). Side lunges, back extensions, standing oblique exercises were all completed, along with a little bit of cycling/strength rationale. We agreed to return to this useful content in another session (on a slightly drier evening).

We headed out via Hackney Road to our task, arriving shortly after 7 to meet task owners Ed, Dunc and Dan, who were patiently waiting in the entrance of Sivill House, trying to shield from the wind and heavy rain.

The task

We were here tonight joining these Columbia TRA (Tenants and Residents Association) members.

The group aim to enhance these estate’s green spaces, growing edible produce; helping to ensure the continued safe habitat for insects and other wildlife, and generally tending to the gardens, to make them as appealing to all residents as possible. As well as enjoying a bit of gardening themselves.

In delightful conditions, the team proceeded to start moving 4 tonnes of woodchip around to the side garden, laying it around young trees, borders and on top of the new irrigation hose supporting the garden.

I think it’s safe to say this was an effective task if you were after a workout. Shovelling woodchip into barrows, wheeling (and for some, running while wheeling) barrow after barrow around to the nearby garden almost kept us warm.

Teams were divided into woodchip shovelling; wheeling and tipping, and spreading.

The teams worked solidly for an hour, well guided by Ed, Dunc and Dan.

It was a fun time in the gardens, despite the rain and wind. And really good to be with the TRA, who explained what we were doing, and why, and inviting us to join their Sunday gardening sessions.

At shortly after 8, we collected up the last shovel, lined up wheelbarrows for safe return to the tool lock-up, and proceeded to crouch in the newly-distributed woodchip, posing for one final picture.

Heading our separate ways, Johnny navigated us back to the Hotel, via a quieter, more picturesque route, headed up by Aidan and Sean.

What a night. No mean feat in that weather. Well done everyone, especially to Ed, for arranging and leading a great task, some lovely pics - and for coming up with tonight's top pun.

Until next time.