A clear Monday night meant only one thing: a terrific opportunity for 11 GoodGymers to get together to shift a LARGE amount of mulch...

But before that

Gathering in the St Leonard's Churchyard just before 7, the pre-task workout crew enjoyed a handful of moves using benches and planters as a multi-gym. We welcomed first time GoodGymers, Naomi and Eva, who did brilliantly, speeding through our regular top-to-toe faves: the Bulgarian split squat, single-leg tricep dips and seated leg lowers, to name a few.

As the rest of tonight's team trickled in, we slowly made our way over to the entrance to greet Larry, our regular task owner at this lovely park.

What is St Leonard's Priory Park?

St Leonards Priory in Bromley-By-Bow is the pretty remains of an ancient church and its grounds. Originally part of a Convent, a large Benedictine nunnery, there is 'tremendous potential to develop this forgotten space into a local community area for local people to enjoy'. And that's the plan. Currently the park hosts a gardening group every Saturday from 11-1, and there are plans afoot to work with local schools in further developing this space for, and with, the young people of this area.

The task

Tonight we were shovelling, wheeling and spreading two huge sacks of mulch to the woodland glade area.

This area is in total shade, and little can grow here apart from...ferns. But before the ferns can be planted, the area needed clearing of leaves and the woodchip distributing (Fascinating Fern Fact: Did you know ferns are ancient plants, dating back millions of years?...).

The teams were divided into four, initially: a couple leaf-raking; a larger group shovelling mulch into sacks; several wheeling, and two brave souls across the other side of the garden, on an unrelated task, lopping a thorny-looking tree.

The team worked industriously for an hour and a quarter, rotating out of tasks and into new ones to help distribute the muscle-load evenly, posing patiently for pics, and not stopping until those two huge bags were emptied.

It was a fantastic effort!

On finishing, the glade area looked clear and well-covered, ready for its new leafy residents.

After posing for our final group shot, to accompany task owner Larry's spectacular pun, we packed the last rake, unchained bikes from railings, and headed out into the night, another marvellous Monday done.

Until next time.