It might have been a Bank Holiday, but it was still a Monday, so GoodGym Tower Hamlets were in action, albeit rather earlier in the day than usual.

We returned again to the gardens around Glasshouse Community Centre, where as usual Catherine had lots for us to do, ably assisted by her ever-keen son Liam.

Long-term GoodGymers Eilidh, Heather, Johnny and John were joined by relative newcomers Vlad, Lobo, Grit, Oliver (doing his second Good Deed and he’s already tried two areas!) and Isobel, on her first ever task before cycling down to Blackheath. Welcome Isobel!

Johnny worked hard even though he was still recovering from a five-hour Tough Mudder which his family had "kindly" bought him as a present.

Several tasks were undertaken. Nearly a hundred geranium, verbana and tomato plants were potted, weeds were removed from flowerbeds and new vegetation introduced, while wheelbarrows of soil were wheeled around the estate before depositing their load onto the beds.

Meanwhile we also trimmed the flower baskets on the glasshouse itself, which used to be looked after by a resident who’s now left the estate. And we saved the life of a huge worm!

We were away before lunchtime, but we’ll be back soon to help with much-needed summer watering, Watch this space!

Two tasks; two fantastic teams.

We gathered by the lock-up at Mile End Park's Art Pavilion just after 7 to meet John, one of the best task owners in town.

The brief? To dig over two planters on The Mound and clean the pond.

It sounded like a pleasant way to pass an hour on a sunny Monday evening, but 90 minutes in, boy, were we glad we skipped the gym.

John headed up Team Pond who, armed with pond nets and rakes, headed over to the pond behind the Pavilion to clear it of weed and all other debris. Wet, mucky and laborious: this was not for the faint hearted.

Meanwhile Team Tulip, headed by Jo, made their way up to the large planters on top of The Mound. "Just a little dig over, and then pop them in," John had breezily said of the last of these Spring bulbs. Well. With fewer forks that we would have liked, not to mention the solid terrain​, this was a workout-and-a-half. We called for reinforcements from the Pond Posse and the team worked solidly for 70 minutes, getting the grass shifted, the soil turned, and the bulbs planted

At 8:33, the last remaining GoodGymers, Grit and Rohan, were glimpsed accompanying John to return the tools along Clinton. Way to go, folks.

A brilliant evening all round, and a special shout-out to our Dave, who tonight hit his 100th good deed. Great to see you, Dave; hope to see you soon :)

Next week, it's Bank Holiday Monday, so Our Big Task falls on a Saturday, when we'll be heading to Tower Hamlets Cemetary Park to commence Operation Cow Parsley. You snooze, you lose.

Until then

Amazing gardening work from Team TH this evening.

Yes, a sturdy crew of 15 helped Catherine de-weed the large Parkview Estate, of thistles, bindweed, and just about every other menace to a garden you can imagine.

How it started

We met in our current meeting location to the East of Victoria Park, where we separated into two groups: a small team headed out on a shorter, more leisurely lap of the park, while Chris, for the second week running, took out a bigger team on a much longer loop.

What we did

We gathered together by the community garden, where Catherine had prepared maps and Weed Teams (more wholesome than it sounds) before we all made our way to our respective corners of the garden.

It was thistle-y, it was tough...We dug, we tugged, we loaded, we binned. It was a humid one too, so more pats on the back to tonight's team.

The time flew by, and soon we were posing for a final couple of pics, before Catherine led us through several relaxation and grounding exercises, the theme being 'letting-go-of-the-day', along with any unforeseen difficulties (yes, unexpected adversities, we're looking at you).

...And how it ended

A team then headed off to the pub, for a cooling drink and a chat - a great way to start the week.

Next week, we're two-tasking it: yep, we're at Hollybush cutting back more overgrowth of the Family Area and heading to Meath Gardens for a litter-pick and weeding. It's all go.

Until then, have a really good week.