Five intrepid GoodGym folk lit their head torches and donned gardening gloves in this satisfying Thursday-night task at the new Ocean Youth Connexions hub.

Our mission? To clear 7 mounds of earth (which Saturday’s team had so expertly created) and cart everything round the corner ready to be composted.

We shovelled, we lifted and we hauled at least 16 large woven refuse sacks (in a past-its-prime wheelbarrow) which equates to over 750kg of earth. 🧑‍🌾

That’s 150kg per person 💪

⭐️ Brilliant team effort! We continued working together to help fix Ilana’s jacket problem. Most importantly, we finished the job! Super effort, Everyone! Well done!!! ⭐️

Seven GoodGym enthusiasts met with Kamal at the Tower Hamlets Community Transport hub to support Ocean Youth Connexions prepare for a busy season ahead.

Danya, Emma, Hedley, Lobo and Oliver travelled round the corner from Felix Project and joined Ilana and Megan with sweeping, raking and shovelling earth into manageable mounds… ready to be hefted round the corner to a large communal compost heap.

⭐️We heaped, we heaved, we laughed and got a lot done. Well done, Everyone!⭐️

We’ll be helping Kamal at the hub again on Thursday 30 January.

Another chilly Monday night and another great-sized group of GoodGymers over in Limehouse!

Tonight we were back to the Community Transport base, where Ocean Youth Connexions lead Kamal is heading up the building makeover project.

A new base for the charity, the team are keen to open up facilities for workshops and room hire, and expand the options for community transport, to enable more opportunities for groups to get out and about.

We were greeted with another well planned list of activities. It was a delight to see the group grow one by one - and great to welcome the running group who'd made their way from the Town Hall Hotel, expertly led by Jacob!

As usual, teams spread out all over the site: one large team headed out to the car park area to begin the huge task of removing the last of the leaves and an enormous amount of soil; another to the container, to sugar-soup and then paint ready for the Spring. There was a team at the front of the building doing a cracking job of pruning a tall and wide overgrown bush, and preparing the railings for paint. The team at the top of the building made a start on the balcony railings, finishing the paint-prep scraping before grabbing the gloss and aiming for at least one coat.

It was all go.

As one task finished, another started. The team were unperturbed by the chilly temperature and a flat wheelbarrow tyre - on they went, until St Anne's chimed 8, and we started to think about calling it a night.

We started to wrap up at 8:10, and were back inside posing for our report pic at just after 8:15.

A few of us headed outside for a chatter, another pic, and a quick can of Athletic Brewing, before heading home, satisfied with another productive night.

Well done, everyone. Another lovely start to the week.

Until next time.

Eight GoodGymers braved the winter chill to lend a helping hand sprucing up the space at Ocean Youth on Saturday afternoon, with the wonderful Kamal leading us. As we arrived, we were able to admire our hard work from last weeks task in the daylight (a rare occurence this time of year)!

Dividing into three teams, we got to work:

1️⃣ The Branch Managers – Taking on the fearsome overgrown bushes and vines creeping in from the churchyard, Michael, Ilana and Kitty fearlessly hacked, snipped, and tamed the encroaching wilderness. There were moments when it seemed the greenery might fight back, but with teamwork and determination, they emerged victorious (cc the impressive before/after pics)!

2️⃣ The Weed Warriors – Weed got tonight, who weeds tomorrow?! Armed with sheer determination and a selection of weeding tools, Lucinda and Emma tackled the backyard of the centre hub, evicting stubborn weeds from every crack and crevice. There was much satisfaction in watching the weeds meet their untimely demise!

3️⃣ The Scrape Society – Positioned at the entrance, Lobo, Anna and (briefly, Oliver!) took to scraping the shelf, getting it primed for a fresh coat of paint. With the precision of artists (or perhaps archaeologists, uncovering ancient layers), they left no flake unturned.

Despite the cold, there was plenty of laughter, much discussion about Saturday night plans, and a general sense of job satisfaction. Seeing the centre in daylight was definitely an added bonus!

Another GoodGym mission complete for the Tower Hamlets January challenge – weeds vanquished, paint prep sorted, and weeds thoroughly put in their place. Until next time (tomorrow!), Ocean Youth!

After a three-week Christmas break, it was great to be reunited with the team this evening.

In a last-minute change of plan, we were Limehouse-bound this evening, heading to the Tower Hamlets Community Transport building, to see Kamal from Ocean Youth Connexions.

The charity relocated to the Transport hub back in the summer, when they needed a new premises for admin and training.

The site is great – large, bright and well located - with a committed team at both organisations.

In order for the hub to be utilised to its fullest potential, the building and grounds need continual upkeep including cleaning, clearing, and decorating.

On arrival, equipment was meticulously laid out and a list of tasks prepared.

As GoodGymers arrived one by one, teams were formed and tasks allocated.

Several teams headed outside (no mean feat in last night’s temperatures) to prune trees, bag and bin branches; clear litter and leaves from the bus area.

Meanwhile another team of three were tasked with scraping and sanding the upstairs railings, in preparation for painting at another task later in the month.

A few pics and bundles of activity later, we heard the 8pm chime of the St Anne’s clock, prompting us to start the clean-up effort.

Sweeping up the last leaf and paint fleck and returning mops, brushes and rakes to their homes, we gathered in the depot for our group picture.

What a night!

Some big shout-outs tonight:

• To Kamal, our task owner, who saved the day on our first Monday night task of the year.

• To Michael, who joined us for his first GoodGym – brilliant effort, Michael! We hope to see you again soon.

• And to our Lobo, who reached his 100th good deed this evening! Congratulations, Lobo! Well done for the huge amount you contribute across the borough. You're a big part of GoodGym Tower Hamlets.

Next week, we return to the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park for our first visit of 2025!

Until then.

Our final Big Monday Night Task of the year saw us heading back to Limehouse to help Kamal with the hub makeover.

Why were we here?

Tower Hamlets Community Transport hub is based in Limehouse. A small charity set up to provide transport to voluntary and community groups in Tower Hamlets, this venue is now also home to Ocean Youth Connexions, a local charity providing a range of youth and community activities since 2002.

Tonight we were here to help Kamal of Ocean Youth Connexions continue the makeover of the community hub, to help get it ready for a wide range of activities in the coming months.

Our task list was a well-prepared range of outdoor gardening activities including: pruning trees, curbing ivy, clearing (a lot of) leaves - and bagging and moving the lot.

Divided into multiple teams with a big variety of tools, the back yard was soon a hive of activity with Kamal regularly appearing to rotate teams out of one task and into another and offer instructions on best locations for depositing the debris.

At just after 8, as St Anne’s clock chimed 8, we started the wrap-up effort: hauling the final bags over to the circular paving ready for collection; gathering the last of the secateurs, agonising over the pun (thanks to the brilliant Pun Posse Lucinda, Ilana and Kitty as usual for tonight’s fab offering) and then finally posing for that all-important group pic.

And Kamal was in touch a short while ago to say,

“A big thank you to GoodGym: their work was brilliant last night. We’re slowly getting there in achieving a good clean.”*

What a great end to the year.

Until next time.