Monday 15th August 2022
Report written by Laura Williams
Monday evening and we were off to a relatively new task for GG TH in the heart of Bow…
GET OUT is a charity that connects young people to nature through surfing, food growing and outdoor education.
The Food Forest, based in Bow’s Harley Grove, works closely with the local primary school to offer a well-served community garden for local young people to enjoy and learn in.
Tonight we were joining Kieran, GET OUT’s founder for some heavy lifting...
We started with a few body weight exercises in the park across the road. A keen canine participant made sure we rattled through our exercises very speedily, so after some tricep dips, seated leg lowers, Bulgarian split squats and the obligatory dynamic warm-up we made our way across to the enchanting little garden.
As the project prepares to make way for a skate ramp revamp, large logs needed lifting and so the team proceeded to give upper and lower body a workout-and-a-half with this amazing teamwork as they carried log after log over to the far corner of the garden. The runners didn't stop, wouldn't stop: they carried every last huge bit of wood across the garden, navigating tight pathways and tricky corners.
“Wow. Didn’t expect you to blitz it that quick,” exclaimed a delighted Kieran 20 minutes in.
Plan B
And so to the second tasks: chopping back greenery, sweeping paths, litter-picking – and breaking up soil boulders for Josh.
It was humid, it was heavy going, and it was great fun.
8pm came around in no time, and we were returning tools, discussing dates for our next visit, and posing for a final pic.
We headed back onto Harley Grove and finished with some stretches to end the night.
A really, really fun task. Well done everyone.
A big shout-out tonight to Emma, who joins our Task Force! Welcome Emma!
Next week, it’s another heavy lifting job, as we head to St Margaret’s House to fill a skip…
Until then.
Tower Hamlets
Come and kick off the first of our 2025 volunteering sessions with The Felix Project.