A beautiful Sunday morning, Graham and Rosa went for a nice run in Victoria park on the way to Chandos Road gardens, where the locals have applied for some funds to plant some wild flowers. The rough idea is to make it look like Tuscany, and they’re planning sit out there on summer evenings sipping on aperol spritzs… or so I understand

The wild flowers need some sandy ground to grow in so they had had three big bags of sand delivered, but it needed moving across the park. Many lovely folks from the neighbourhood pitched in with shovels and wheelbarrows. With a big joint effort we were able to get the sand moved over and spread out where the wildflowers are to be planted in just under an hour!

Well done everyone! We look forward to seeing how those seeds grow!

Last night, GoodGym Newham headed out to support the Friends of Chandos Road Gardens, clearing autumn leaves from the streets and litter from the children’s playground.

Nick arrived first and got straight to work on litter picking, setting the pace for the session. Graham walked over despite recovering from a football-related injury — we wish him a swift recovery! Kev arrived after a run, and then Rosa, Eugene, and I did a little group run, taking the scenic route from the Aquatics Centre to join in.

Armed with rakes, bags and shovels, we tackled the leaves lining the street and rubbish scattered around the playground. Among the items collected were stray wrappers, cups, and even a lonely teddy bear!

We were also joined by volunteers and local residents from Chandos Road, who continued the cleanup after we left, finishing the job and collecting all the bagged leaves and rubbish for the council. Great to see the community come together to make the streets and playground cleaner and safer.

📅 Upcoming Tasks

We don't currently have anything lined up next Tuesday, but we do have the following brilliant tasks coming up not long after:

Saturday 8th Nov: Parkrun and then gardening at Emmanuel Church

Tuesday 11th: Hackney Marsh Adventure Playground

Thanks to everyone who came along today — with our combined efforts, Chandos Road is looking brighter, tidier, and ready for everyone to enjoy! 🌿

A slightly different task for GoodGym Newham this week, as we took the opportunity to spread some positive messages in the community. Hope not Hate organised a "weekend of hope" on 18-19 October, aiming to distribute nearly a million flyers across the UK supporting diversity in our local communities. GoodGym Newham got our hands on some flyers and did our bit for the Stratford area. We were a small but efficient group, with a system that at least 2 out of 3 of us followed, and before we knew it we'd triumphantly delivered the final flyer and crossed the metaphorical finish line. We even managed to fit in a chatty 5k run around the Olympic Park beforehand! Well done team.