Before I Shelf Destruct

23 Goodgymers helped their local community in Tower Hamlets
Jo
Dave Gilbert
David Stoker
Martin
Tracey
Lucy Victor
Steve
Laura Williams
Katherine
Joel
Sian Waugh
Grit
Leo
Philippine
Charlotte Price
Neil Smith
Philippa Morgan
Johnny
Emma
Rohan
Bryon Chan
1 / 24
Tower Hamlets

Monday 21st October 2019

Credits
Jo
Jo

BACK MARKER

Laura Williams
Laura Williams

SESSION ORGANISER

DOCUMENT CHECKER

REPORT WRITER

PHOTOGRAPHER

Katherine
Katherine

BACK MARKER

Leo
Leo

PHOTOGRAPHER

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Report written by Laura Williams

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23 runners headed to the phenomenal community arts charity Stitches in Time this evening to help the team out with a huge variety of fabulous tasks!

We headed down to Limehouse in two groups: Bryon headed up the runners who wanted to enjoy a speedier pace, while I led the crew who’d opted for a more conservative pace (although according to Charlotte, it was a fairly speedy pace too, that had been mis-sold. #youhadonejobLaura).

HOW many tasks?

On arrival at the task, we formed multiple different teams of the following:

  • Dismantling shelving units in the studio
  • Dismantling benches in the hall
  • Shuttling large panels of wood to the basement
  • Filling in wall plaster
  • Sorting through haberdashery rubbish
  • Drilling wood floors
  • Clearing and cleaning the performance hall
  • Scrubbing and cleaning in the studio

…And that’s just off the top of my head.

It was a brilliantly organised task by the Stitches in Time team, Paul, Esther, Brian and Sam, who had new tasks ready and waiting every time one job was finished. And all the work was accompanied by the best snack stash in East London: gingerbread men, Chupa Chups, bananas and flapjacks. Truly something for everyone.

The town hall was a hive of activity and before we knew it, we were gathering by the resplendent staircase for our cheerios and some fabulous pics.

MORE running

We headed back to base, beautifully navigated by Kat, via churchyards, and the quietest streets – thank you, Kat! What another glorious GoodGym night, full of fun, productivity, and fitness gold. Well done everyone.

Shout-outs aplenty this evening…

Thanks to our wonderful task force, who help behind the scenes so much, from route-planning to run-leading, making new GoodGym TH adventures possible. Thanks to Kat, for backmarking, route navigation this evening. Thanks to Bryon for stepping in over the weekend to help plan, and for leading the faster runners. Thanks to Isabelle for brilliant route-planning and navigation.

Thanks too to Philippa for extensive route-planning on arrival at the hotel; thanks to Leo for great pics. Thanks to Jo for brilliant and steady back-marking.

And a huge big welcome to our first-time-Tower Hamlets runners, Philippa and Flavia – please do come back and see us again very soon.

What’s coming up…

Guess what? You don’t have to wait until Monday to do it all again! No – our Lieke is running another Community Mission at one of our best established tasks, Cranbrook Community Food Garden, this Saturday. You’re in for a treat – Janet and her dedicated team have got all manner of gardening tasks lined up for you, from digging over veg beds to painting benches. Do come and join in this fab task if you can.

And next Monday we’re headed to Meath Gardens to try out our new outdoor lights as we help Joanna with some digging and other serious gardening projects! Come join in the fun?

Until then, have a really good week won’t you.


This task supported
Stitches In Time
Stitches in Time is a participatory arts and education charity with a social enterprise arm based in Tower Hamlets.

Set up in 1993 as a community project aimed at celebrating the area’s rich cultural heritage, we do more than just sewing, our creative projects are co-designed with users in response to their needs, to empower individuals and build strong, inclusive, and cohesive communities. Our weekly classes provide a space for local women, not in work, to come and learn basic sewing and garment construction techniques, taught by one Bengali and one Arabic speaking women. Industrial and domestic machinery is used for women to familiarise themselves with skills needed to sew almost any item. These over subscribed classes are only open to women who are not working at the moment, and there is a waiting list.

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Tower Hamlets

Saturday morning session at The Felix Project's Poplar depot
🗓Saturday 9:30am

Come and kickstart the weekend with one of our most popular tasks!