When I turned up at the agreed start time for dismantling the plant sale, much of the work had been done already. The plant sale had been auch a great success, that Stoke Newington Users Group (SNUG) had sold all their plants and cakes ahead of schedule.

There were still a couple of gazebos to come down and pack away, not to mention stacks of empty crates and chairs and table clothes and other essential paraphernalia to pack into cars and unload at their destination.

Another very successful event over for another year.

It was a glorious day for the Stoke Newington Common Users Group (SNUG) plant sale and three GoodGymmers were on hand to help set up for the day. It was great to meet Kanice and Caroline, both trying out GoodGym for the first time.

Task One was to set up the gazebos, which, as one of the SNUG group pointed out, 'Once you've done one gazebo, you'll discover all the others work slightly differently.' Undeterred, and with our usual problem solving minds switched in, there were soon 5 gazebos of varying height, weight and structure assembled and pegged down.

Task Two was to set up the trestle tables. This required a walk to the local community hall to collect 3x of tables and carry them back to the common. A proper work out indeed!

With the tables in place, Task Three was to make further trips to the homes of various SNUG members to collect their plant donations for sale. A lot of ground was covered, a number of cars were filled and numerous plants were collected and delivered to the common.

The final task was setting out the plants according to category and price. Special attention was required during this work, to remove and unwanted slugs.

The set up plan went smoothly and once everything was ready, the Common was awash with colour and looking fabulous.

All funds made from the event will go towards more trees, hedging and maintenance of Stoke Newington Common.

Welcome Maria who has recently moved to Hackney from Ealing!

It was a small team led by Eslam this morning but we got a lot done.

Sooz and Maria started by heaving all the finished compost into a barrow, ready to be sieved and then used to replenish the beds ready for planting.

Then, whilst Eslam emptied coffee chafs into the compost heaps - and also maintained a constant flow of fresh compost into the wheelbarrow, Sooz and Maria set to work on the sieving. The group almost filled the entire container, and still had time to do some watering. With all the dry weather, the compost heaps needed a bit of help breaking down the mulch and grass cuttings into useable compost.

A rewarding session. See you next month?

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/the-funday-sunday-task-composting-at-hoxton-trust-in-june

What a beautiful sunny day for a spot of jogging at London Fields!

Nearly 40 youngsters turned out for this week’s run supported by 3 GoodGymmers amongst the regular parkrun volunteers.

After a speedy setup, Rue expertly took on the role of Run Director, leading all the young runners through the warm up - with a little help from our junior volunteers doing their Duke of Edinburgh award. There were also 2 half marathon milestones to celebrate!

Sarah set up camp under her usual tree, bringing all the necessary support and high-fives to get our regular and new runners around the course. Sooz steered the children safely round as this week’s tailwalker.

Another fine week complete - thanks to all our volunteers. See you next week: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/london-fields-junior-parkrun-volunteering-before-hackney-half

Volunteered at Hackney Night Shelter

Volunteered at Hackney Night Shelter