A large group of goodgymers old and new joined Ken on a pleasant Monday evening for the usual spot of gardening in the cemetery park. Following the heatwave there was lots to be done. This week’s task was tackling another ‘verdant villain’ called Hogweed. This piggy plant hogs all the nutrients and sunlight and spreads rapidly to the detriment of the surrounding nature. Ken explained the importance of other nearby plants which attract rare species of bee to the cemetery park and are vital to the ecosystem and threatened by the invasive hogweed.

We set to work with our gloves, loppers and secateurs clearing the weed from a triangular patch near the pond. The wheelbarrows filled up as we cut stem after stem, then it was off to empty them on the pile. It was great to see the progress of the patch we cleared in a power hour of Goodgym effort. A huge welcome to our three new Goodgymers; Ana, Joely and Nuunuu. Thanks for all your help and we’d love you to join us again soon!

We convened at Shadwell station, sheltering from the afternoon heat, shortly joined by John, Darren, and first-timer Kelly (welcome Kelly!).

We headed south towards Shadwell Basin, dropping leaflets at Shadwell Gardens and various churches along the way. Highlights included a promising chat with a potential task owner at Glamis Adventure Playground, and a detour to the Outdoor Activity Centre where many locals were attempting to cool off in the water. Kareem joined us just in time for a well-earned hydration break at the historic Prospect of Whitby before we pushed east towards Limehouse.

We paused to admire some previous GoodGym handiwork at The Royal Foundation of St Katharine, and made a valiant attempt at leafleting Moo Canoes (surprisingly closed on a sunny Saturday). We called it a day at Limehouse Basin with a celebratory drink at the Cruising Association, having navigated our way through a stretch of East London many of us had never explored before.

Join us next time as we continue spreading the word across Tower Hamlets.