Volunteering at Hackney Night Shelter

A mammoth task from Earthwatch, with very little manpower! The task owner set GoodGym up for a mission to clear a school forest school area with very little resources.

Today’s achievement: some paths visible again and a huge amount of nettles cleared, with lots of stings in the process!

Another glorious morning greeted us at the Fields today, and the clock change didn't seem to have caught anyone out, as we had 33 enthusiastic runners (plus their coaches/cheerleaders) and a full team of volunteers made up of GoodGymmers (Simon, Nicolas and Nick), DofE participants and a small group from On Running whom Simon had clearly persuaded that spending a Sunday morning volunteering at junior parkrun was the best decision they'd make all day.

After a well drilled warmup led by Run Director Mas, with a little help from one or two of the younger runners, everyone was keen to get going in the morning sunshine - a quick last minute course check and we were good to go. Simon, on timekeeping duty, counted down and before he'd got to "1" the field was already sprinting away from the line, leaving Nick (on tailwalking duty) with quite a task to catch up. It wasn't long before the lead runners were reaching the far ends of the course where Nicolas, positioned at what is known as "Sarah's Corner", was on marshalling duty and ready to cheer the runners as they passed him by.

It was a very close finish for the leading positions - only a second separated the first 3 as they all made a sprint for the line in the home straight - and not too long after that the final runners (chased by the tailwalking fox...) reached the finish funnel - 9 PBs were achieved on the course today, reflective of the great effort put in by all those who ran. A quick pack up of all the equipment, tokens sorted, hi viz all returned, and event #313 was complete. See you next week for more fun at the Fields!

Volunteered at Hackney Night Shelter

This task was all about clearing and weeding a heavily neglected area of a primary school forest school - ready for Earthwatch to come in and work their magic. We have two more sessions to complete the job before the school holidays, don’t forget to sign up!

Sooz arrived first and, alongside task owner Pieter, got stuck into one area of weeding, succumbing to heavy nettle stinging in the process. The group soon increased as a parent and teacher at the school came along to support.

Louise joined soon after and went straight for hedge clipping and tree clearing, making great headway on the overgrown paths. She joined Sooz and they were soon working in tandem to clear out the former log seating area of weeds and compostable mulch, meeting a lot bugs and worms in the process!

A hugely satisfying first effort for this mammoth task. The proof is in the before and after shots!

Delivered a bread roll and 3 X soup to Mrs N in the spring sunshine. Streets and parks busy with happy people, took a nice longer route on the way back. All was quiet and easy at Humdingers soup kitchen, and Mrs N pleased to get the delivery so a very nice mission all in all.