What a beautiful evening for tonight’s activity!

We started out as a small group working out on the planters in busy Ravenscroft Park, but slowly grew, until there were a good number enjoying the final stretches shortly before 7.

Making our way around the corner to meet Ed, our task owner this evening, we decided tonight might be a hayfever special, thankful we’d come armed with tissues and antihistamines.

This evening we were working around the pretty race track garden (so-called due to its winding gravel path) and the grass-filled garden at the front of Sivill House, helping to clear some of the many weeds.

A third team were dispatched to the Orchard area, to complete an extensive watering operation.

The Columbia TRA are the tenants & residents association for the Newling, Dorset, Virginia and Gascoigne Estates in Tower Hamlets. These estates sit on-and-around the Columbia Road area, and are home to some much-loved green areas.

Our team continued to grow as we plucked weeds and hydrated trees, and we made a good dent in the garden tasks.

At shortly before 8, we started to think about wrapping-up, tipping one last bucket into the weed pile and winding the hose away for the night.

Posing for that all-important final pic (thanks for your patience as always) we wheeled barrows back to the lock-up, said our cheerios and wandered off into the beautiful evening sun.

A fantastic start to the week.

Shout-outs

Thanks to our brilliant task owner, Ed for this evening’s great activity and for tonight's pun, and to Lucinda for another splendid pun, Green Green Dry Grass of Home.

Until next time.

After arriving at the Hackney local farm, Alice, Alicia and Kareem helped with soil shifting, barrow moving, and covering dry areas with compost to help with growth. Alice shared exciting stories from a recent trip to Bolivia, and we came across a cute little newt in the pond 🦎

The appeall went out. Deliveries were arriving at the food bank on Sunday, and volunteers were needed to unload the goodies and sort the food, ready to be collected by the bank's customers the following morning,

GoodGymers responded: there was a group of six of us there on Sunday afternoon, and we worked quickly and efficiently. But we weren't quick enough for some of the "use by" dates on the packaging,; we didn't want to be poisoning anyone, that's just not one of GoodGym's stated aims.

Lobo was there before any of us; if any volunteering is happening in the borough, he's sure to be there. Ilana arrived slightly later (as promised), so we quickly inducted her, based (roughly) on what we'd already heard.

Karim sneaked in while we weren't looking, and kept making the mistake of asking John for advice. Oliver carried several heavy boxes at a time, as if they were cow parsley at Tower Hamlets cemetery.

Having wandered round Bethnal Green in ever deceasing circles trying to find us, Sree did an amazing job in deciding what to do with a whole crate of "Amazon" ketchup, presumably unsold from one of that company's shops which always lack any customers.

Within a short space of time, everything was neatly sorted and crated. leaving us time to go out and enjoy the sunshine while it lasted.