Tom, Louise, Alex, Yuxi and myself were given a variety of tasks to help with setting up this ImpactSOS concept shop in Shoreditch BoxPark. As this was the last session before the grand opening, it was a furry of activity - trying to get everything completed to a strict deadline. Some of our activities included: Louise wrapping up soaps, Tom and Alex doing some DIY and me shopping and sweeping the floors and watering the plants. The popup will showcase a variety of products from local charities based in Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Haringey and Waltham Forest - try and head over there if you can and show your support for your local community!

• Disclaimer - I did not make up the pun.

For the first time since lockdown, 3 sessions in 3 days for the same task!

This evening at ImpactSOS I finished the little sports towels and had my own corner putting together 6 chairs and 3 tables, all picked up from a well known Swedish furniture company....

Job done, it was time to say goodbye to the team - might see some again down the line

One of the nice things about follow-up sessions is to see the progress of the project.

The different rooms are starting to take shape, things falling into place step by step, almost ready to be fixed in place.

This evening more little bits of prep to be done:

• Kareem joined Kat in rolling up more of the wrapping paper
• Tom joined Finn putting together stools for the cinema room
• sorting bottles, cleaning re-purposed floor tiles & folding sports towels were my contribution

More sessions to follow this week - grand opening from 12.30 on Saturday.

P.S. anyone know an available DJ for the opening event?

When I arrived at BoxPark it turned out the lovely Yuxi was already there - she is part of the ImpactSOS team!

An into on what the idea behind the units is - showcasing local community groups. Whatever I try and say, it will not do the project justice - better to pop round and discover for yourself! There are Goodgym sessions logged for the next few days - grand opening is on Saturday, lots to do so every helping hand is appreciated!

After figuring out how to get the tightly rolled sheets out of their cardboard tubes, they got rolled up individually - 10 different designs, one for each of the 10 community groups.

In the mean time there was some filming going on, to record the process as part of a movie showcasing the community groups and how the project got together. Not sure I want to see my clip back anytime soon 🙈

Luckily there was an escape - a large printed board needed picking up! Too big to fit in the car, there was no option but to go down to Puck Studio and walk it back the 1.8km - it did get some weird looks from people once we hit Bethnal Green Road!

Back tommorow - looking forward to how the different ideas & designs will come together in just a few days.