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.

Our first weekday evening community mission, but at one of our regular tasks.

This week Sybil had over 200 bulbs for us to plant in the long flower bed at the front of the church.

Mark joined us for his 2nd GG good deed while Bianca joined us for her 3rd and Steven joined us for a 2nd tourist visit to Newham.

Sybil had clear instructions
* clear leaves
* dig in compost
* make holes
* plant bulbs (make sure they're the right way up)
* refill holes
* leaves back to act as additional mulch

In less than forty minutes all 200 bulbs were planted and covered.

Some light refreshments as a thank you from the church for our hard work before we headed off home.

A visit to Emmanuel church for the team on Tuesday.

We started on the preparation for 2 new flower beds in the church ground.

They have a grassed area between some of the tress and the church members decided they need more flowers,which would help the pollinators.

Grass was removed and taken to the compost pile,the ground was a little dry but Adam made light work of loosing it up,a great way to celebrate his 25th good deed

Two new beds are now ready for the bulbs to be planted.

We look forward to seeing them bloom next year.

And again the ladies did us a wonderful post task feast......I didn't get a photo of the chicken...which disappeared very quickly

We are off to St Marys Allotment next week for some fence dismantling....Head torches are a must

On Tuesday evening last week (apologies for the delay), a brave band of GoodGymmers took on a task that was part DIY makeover, part arachnid diplomacy, and entirely brilliant.

Our mission: transform a small room in a local church into something a little less “spider sanctuary” and a little more “welcoming space.” Armed with rollers, masking tape, and nerves of steel, we got to work.

First up—taping. The edges of doors and skirting boards were treated to a precision masking job worthy of a crime scene investigator. No paint was going rogue on our watch. Special mention and welcome to Steven who worked wonders with the tape!

Then came the floor protection phase, where we laid down cardboard and paper like we were preparing for a Jackson Pollock session. The room looked like it was about to host a very cautious picnic.

But before any painting could begin, we had to face our eight-legged co-tenants. Cobwebs clung to corners, and spiders the size of small dogs (okay, maybe not that big) peered down from the rafters. We were assured they wouldn’t bite, but that didn’t stop a few squeals and some impressive ladder acrobatics as we cleared the high-up hideouts.

With the room de-spidered and the floor safely swaddled, we got rolling—literally. About half the room got a fresh coat of paint, and while we didn’t quite finish the job, we left it looking brighter and cleaner.

Big thanks to everyone who came along and brought their best brushwork, bravery, and banter. Same time next week—unless the spiders file a complaint.

A return visit to Emmanuel Church to see the wonderful team.

Sybil had planned for us to start the digging of the new flower bed but due to how warm it had been the ground was too hard but as always she had a plan b.

Digging in the already established beds for some new planting and prune back the over hanging tree branches and remove the low shoots.

I was asked to check out a task for next month....painting the room we helped clear last year.

Pruning and digging complete we headed in side for some refreshments....

Next week is a visit to Cody Dock for leafleting to let local residents know about the upcoming event Lighting up the Lea

Graham took on leading the run from the Aquatic Center and welcomed Yumna on her first goodgym run.

The plan for tonight was to make a start on creating new flower beds on the left hand side of the Church.

I made a quick stop to buy a cake for Sybil so we could celebrate her birthday after the task.

We arrived but noticed Sybil did not have any tools ready and some new faces from the church were also they to greet us.

It seems the church committee had decided we had to join them in celebrating Sybils birthday.

We always do get some great refreshments when we visit the church but tonight was wonderful and is was an honour to be asked to part of the celebrations,Sybil is a little ball of energy who has always got and idea or project planned.....which she ask for our help with.

We spent time chatting with the church members who were all very interested in learning more about what Goodgym is and how we help.

We did have to tell Yumna that not every task is quite as chilled as this.

Next week we are heading back to Plaistow school to continue with the wendy house building https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/assemble-a-wendy-house-and-a-pyrex-painting-board-at-plaistow-primary