Once again we gathered at the Yurt café, even though it had closed two hours earlier. But we were here for a good deed, not a good feed. I arrived quite close to the start time and wondered if anyone else was going to appear. But GoodGymers are known for their precise timing (except Sree and Emma, of course), and nearly all appeared within seconds of the start time, notably Martin who times his pre-task runs to perfection.

Welcome especially to Beth, doing her first ever good deed, and who we hope to see a few more times before she relocates to meet the equally lovely folk at GoodGym Islington.

It was great to be good-deeding in daylight, and to discover there’s a short cut to the Yurt from Limehouse station, until dusk. Some people were still delighting in Fulham’s win against some team from Stratford as we selected gloves: relatively mud-free, and neatly divided into four different sizes.

We were tasked with raking gravel, to be wheelbarrowed away to another spot. One barrow was earmarked for pure gravel, while another was reserved for gravel-mixed-with-earth, which must have got a better name than that. The difficulty came when shovelling up what looked like unadulterated gravel, as we sometimes inadvertently also dug up the earth concealed below, which risked messing up the whole system.

Despite fifteen people wielding spades and shovels (once again trying to ascertain the difference between the two), and long sharp rakes, and pushing wheelbarrows in a confined space, not a single GoodGymer was injured!

Task Force regular Emma​ demonstrated her worth as a photo snapper extraordinaire, then demonstrated how to use a wheelbarrow as a sofa. As Ilana watched the sun set over some indistinguishable writing on a nearby tower block, we gathered for a few final photos. I headed for Limehouse station with Fiona and Alisa, as we looked forward to returning for one or more of the following:

On Saturday lunchtime, join Maddie and Robert sorting food for foodbanks at the Felix Project https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/saturday-afternoon-session-at-the-felix-project-s-poplar-depot-6df11c33-e39a-4480-a244-6b041986663c. Or join the earlier session at 9:30: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/saturday-morning-session-at-the-felix-project-s-poplar-depot-7fd69d30-ee3a-47cb-8268-3c6b48d2ccd5

Next Monday evening we’re heading for the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park – always a fun task. https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/the-big-monday-night-task-gardening-at-the-tower-hamlets-cemetery-park-pre-task-workout-4fd663a8-d032-4189-8e78-e0c1adb73052

On Thursday 9th May, there’s a social at the Monument pub in Whitechapel. Myself, Lucinda and “Southern” Emma have already signed up: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/goodgym-social-in-the-city

On Sunday 2nd June, join us for a great day out on the stunning Seven Sisters walk: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/seven-sisters-walk

42 brilliant members of the Two Circles team arrived brilliantly punctually in St James Gardens this afternoon.

On what turned out to be a pretty nice afternoon, we gathered in this pretty park to say our hellos, get an idea of what we’d be doing this afternoon and of course, squeeze a bit of fitness in.

After the obligatory intros, off we got to a splendid start with some squats, stretches, a lunge or two and a little bit of balance work.

As the last of today’s team joined, we made our way a few yards around the corner to the Royal Foundation of Saint Katherine to meet Larry, who was leading today’s activity.

Why were we here?

‘In 2011, St Katharine’s opened its doors to the public. It has become a place where groups and individuals can stay, meet, reflect and retreat. In 2020, St Katharine’s offered itself to become part of the NHS provision for The Royal London and Barts. A dynamic volunteer network, Limehouse Aid, also joined St Katharine’s, which now hosts a food bank distributing food.

St Katharine’s is also a thriving arts and community organisation, hosting London’s only Yurt café.’

Today we were working on a new project that involved transforming a disused space into a new garden area around the Yurt Café.

Our four brilliant team captains

Larry wasted no time in dividing us into four teams, complete with four brilliant team captains.

Two teams headed to the area below the café, one weeding around the community centre, and one working on the heavy lifting job of emptying soil from planters and beds.

Another two teams worked on The Big Weeding Job: one headed to the entrance, tackling borders in the most visible areas; another to ‘the DLR entrance’ working around paths and the planters to give this area a good tidy-up.

And it all got done. Remarkable.

With just 20 minutes to go, we glanced at the remaining planter areas wondering if the soil would be levelled off and wheeled away by 4pm.

It was.

Incredible work in such a short space of time.

Larry and his team are now ready to move on to the next phase of this important project, thanks to you all.

Week 2 of our task at the Yurt Café in Limehouse saw us gathering by the picnic tables for Larry's briefing shortly after 7 this evening.

Our first task was to head around to Butcher Row and trim the Buddleja, which was poking through the fence. We worked along the length of this fence, lopping branches and plucking weeds at a thoroughly good speed. Shout-out to Lucinda who was positioned between the fence and the Portakabin, chopping branches and feeding them through the fence.

After we'd completed this first task, we headed around to the garden to make a start of the other big tasks.

Task 2 (and 3)

First up was the timber relocation. Armed with large planks of wood, the first team shuttled back and forth from the area at the bottom of the garden to the Portakabins until the pile was no more.

Our second team got to work on the planter near the cafe, juggling screwdrivers and stubborn planter sides in poorly-lit conditions, stopping frequently and patiently for my slow photographs.

It was another fun and active night in Limehouse, spent with Larry our task owner who's enormously appreciative of the time GoodGymers are spending helping prepare this area for a time-sensitive, exciting new project.

The evening was rounded off with a big shout-out to our Fiona, a huge part of GG Tower Hamlets, who tonight reached her 100th good deed!

Next week, we're heading inside, for our first task at the Island House Community Centre.

Until then.

We had a good-sized turnout for our fitness session this evening. Balancing on benches and planters, the GoodGymers worked hard at multi-directional lunges, upper body exercises and some decent side planks. It was a fun start to our evening, and great to welcome Lucinda to her first GoodGym!

As our team slowly grew, by 7pm we were ready for a briefing from Larry. Tonight we were dismantling a shed (every bit as fun as it sounds), repotting a tree, dismantling planters, relocating soil and filling the skip.

A fun workout if there ever was one.

Grabbing safety goggles and club hammers, we headed over to the shed to say adios to this redundant structure. Off came the roof, onto its side it went – then the sides were no more. This was a cathartic task-and-a-half.

Meanwhile several other teams were emptying planters full of soil and wheeling the barrows over to a far corner, and carrying the dismantled planters to the skip. Lobo and Alisa meanwhile were doing a sterling job of tree re-potting, including emptying a huge ton bag of soil.

It was a fun, active evening lending a hand to help prepare this space for a huge redevelopment, a big project that needs turning around in a short space of time.

At just before 8, we sped through the tool-gathering in our usual productive fashion, and posed for that final pic, less speedy thanks to an uncooperative camera.

Before we headed out, Larry explained what we’d be doing next week in our second visit of March:

• Dismantling more planters

• Repairing the fence

• Moving timber

Until then.

This blustery Monday evening saw us heading to a brand new task in Limehouse.

Fitness first

Starting with a short fitness session outside the café, GoodGymers joined one-by-one enjoying the use of the outdoor furniture for seated leg lowers, tricep dips and a most effective hamstring stretch.

And so to the task…

The Royal Foundation of St Katherine is a retreat centre and ‘urban oasis’ in Limehouse, established by Queen Matilda in 1147.

Task owner Larry, previously of St Leonard’s Priory Park, is heading up the project to transform a disused space around the popular Yurt Café into ‘a monastic-inspired garden of reflection with herbs, sensory plants and new seating.’

Our task tonight was to dismantle the planters, pot up trees and shrubs - and fill the skip!

GoodGymers wasted no time in putting the PPE to good use. Armed with sturdy gloves, protective eyewear, hammers and screwdrivers, several teams headed to the planters to start the dismantling.

A task requiring a bit of strength, plenty of strategic thinking and a fair amount of patience, the GoodGymers made good progress. Removing the sides of the planters, examining the wood, sorting debris, no sooner had they finished one planter, they headed over to the second.

Meanwhile a second team were tasked with digging up a larger planter towards the end of the row; salvaging some trees and shrubs, re-potting them and moving them carefully to one side.

It was a hive of activity: sifting through dozens of objects from surplus plant pots, coconut shells to well-established snails, the team worked continuously until after 8.

Finishing with a final few frenzied trips to the skip and a discussion on the optimum spot for our last pic, we concluded it had been an excellent night.

We return to the task next month, with a two-part task to help Larry blitz the clearing project in time for the redevelopment!

Next week...

...Meanwhile, next week sees us heading to the Cranbrook Community Centre, for some more leaf-clearing and other gardening tasks.

Until then.