A very warm welcome to Tom from Greenwich, voyaging out to Newham (although technically we seem to have poached this task from neighbouring borough, Tower Hamlets) and welcome back Dave and Helen to a Wednesday evening outing, great to see you again after the pandemic related interlude.

In amongst the chat, it was good to hear such positive noises about how good the school is looking these days, it’s been a pleasure to witness and play a part in over the past three or so years. We’ve done painting, cleaning, gardening, moving furniture to name a few tasks, and it was a moving furniture sort of an evening last night. A recurring theme has been the moving of some computer desks as they’ve been repurposed in different parts of the school (including up and down floors and across the road). “Computer desks” sound harmless enough, but these computer desks might be our nemesis, known to elicit a grumble from even the most charitable of Newham GoodGymmers. They’re heavy, but the weight is awkwardly all on one side, with limited space to grip and of course there are bars along the bottom that will take out your shins if you go too fast. This evening though, we were pleased to hear that we’d be taking them out for their final journey, to the bin area for collection and recycling. Andy, the school Site Supervisor, had found some small trolleys to assist with this, so at least this trip was made easier.

Prior to the computer desks, we’d shifted the decking that had been dismantled last week, and that just left some more manageable classroom tables to be redistributed around the school. Extra kudos to Isabelle, Tom and Paul for employing a solo “tortoise” technique for shifting some of these (sorry I didn't get a photo...) With that, we were on our way, back for another session at the same time next week, safe in the knowledge that we’re not likely to be moving any more computer desks.