12 goodgymers travelled to Ocean Youth Connexion on a chilly Monday evening. Some cycled, others walked, John braved poorly lit towpaths (successfully managing to remain a land mammal). Taskowner Kamal instructed us on the two jobs for the night 1) bagging up leaves in the yard and 2) painting the roller shutter.

Nia and Darren transformed the roller shutters from a muted grey to shiny metallic, almost rivaling the brightness of the jackets sported by myself and Emma. They were meticulous with their paint rollers, trapping us all in the yard at the end just to get the job done. Or one could say, painting us into a corner (pun credit/blame: Darren)... We were all happy to stay to witness the finishing touches of their Rothko-esque masterpiece.

The rest of the gang were busy beavers running around the yard clearing it of loose leaves (which Kamal had already kindly swept into piles). Wheelbarrows, brooms, brushes, leaf scoopers and hands were employed to get the job done. It seems like every time we come to Ocean Youth, Kamal provides a new helpful item - headtorches this time. So industrious were we, there was a constant background rustling sound throughout the hour. Countless trips back and forth were made to the designated leaf drop off zone for the leaf fairies (aka the council) to pick up at a later date.

Bang went the clock tower, and with jobs complete, a cheery gang made their way to the pub round the corner.

8 goodgymers braved the slightly wet weather to paint the town (i.e. Ocean Youth Connexions) white (pun credit:Ilana. Task owner Kamal provided us with overalls to prevent us getting covered in paint. A few drops snuck in somehow but we all emerged relatively unscathed.

Rohan, Kareem, Dnyaneshwari and Tom were team Green Container. I hear there may have been some tuneful humming to make the most of the acoustics.The rest of us headed to the stairwell to paint everything but the stairs. Partway through Oliver upgraded his roller by attaching it to a big stick, allowing him to reach the taller parts of the wall.

Team GC needed to change paint partway through as the stuff they started with wouldn't stick to the walls - a paint rebellion! But Kamal soon sorted them with a more co-operative emulsion.

Team Stairwell made their way slowly down the stairs, leaving behind fresh white walls in their wake. No trips but potentially some drips.. Not wanting to mark the stairs, Ilana may have caught some with her own head - very considerate indeed.

It was an enjoyable, focused task. We all seemed to get so into the rhythm of painting that we seemed to be painting anything and everything white by the end. In fact. Team Green Container were so engrossed in their work, they stayed for an extra 5 minutes, determined to get the job done. The pull of the paint is strong.

Well done all and a massive congratulations to Kareem for completing his 50th task!

8 of us headed down to Ocean Youth Connexions on a blustery evening (still arriving in light). We were met by the task owner, Kamal, who provided us with all the equipment we needed, including some giant bags. These were very useful as it turns out leaves are prone to blowing away without some sort of receptacle to contain them.

Rohan worked out front, tree trimming whilst perched on the railing, reminding me of a scene from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. He made light work of this and soon joined the rest of the gang out back who worked tirelessly to round up all the loose leaves they could see.

Special shout out to Dnyaneshwari for completing her first task!

A amazing effort by all, no cap! (Correction - there were actually two caps left by previous goodgymers, one modelled by Lobo in the group picture).

On a humid Monday evening in Limehouse, 12 GoodGymers gathered at the Tower Hamlets Community Transport Hub, the base of Ocean Youth Connexions, to help continue to give this site a well-needed refresh.

Despite the heavy air and the threat of rain, spirits were high as we split into several smaller teams.

One team took on the painting of the metal shutters at the front of the hub.

Two leaf-clearing teams tackled the concrete yard and bus park. Bag after bag of leaves were swept, scooped and carried away to the collection area at the back of the yard.

(Removing leaves from these hard-surfaced areas isn’t just cosmetic — they can become slippery when wet and clog drains if left to build up, leading to puddles and flooding).

A third team took on the weeds sprouting from the corners and cracks of the yard. (This not only helps to improve the appearance of the area, it also helps to prevent further damage to the paving and brickwork).

By 8pm, with the final weeds uprooted and the yard swept clear we headed inside - just as well as the first drops of overdue rain began to fall.

We gathered by a large step ladder for a quick pic before heading out one by one onto Newell Street: some on foot, some on bike (and maybe one or two on the bus).

Next week we’re back with Janet and Eileen for the August garden clear-up at the Cranbrook Community Centre.

Until then.

A small but dedicated group of GoodGymers headed to the base of Ocean Youth Connexions in Limehouse this evening.

The Centre is taking shape nicely, with rooms being cleared and painted, toilets given a coat of paint and the yard spruced up.

Oliver and Sam were first to head outside. Armed with paint trays, rollers and overalls they made their way to the dark green container to complete a whopping two coats.

Meanwhile first time GoodGymer Liv headed upstairs with Justin to blitz the toilets in a speedy bathroom-painting double bill.

Charlie headed out to the shutters to start cleaning them for the next big paint job in August.

Ruby cleared the yard of leaves, twigs, soil and bits of litter before bagging and binning the lot.

It was another productive evening with GoodGymers working at an exceptionally fast pace.

At shortly after 8, paint trays were scraped, bins filled, dirty water emptied and pics posed for.

Another lovely night in Limehouse.

As I was leaving I asked Kamal how he managed to get the place looking so good in a relatively short space of time: "GoodGym", he replied, "It's the GoodGymers."

Until next time.

A mild June evening saw 13 GoodGymers gather at Tower Hamlets Community Transport in Limehouse.

It’s coming up to a year since we first visited Kamal here, the new home of Ocean Youth Connexions admin and training operations.

Since then we’ve weeded the wall multiple times, cleared soil, raked zillions of leaves, picked litter, emptied barrows full of greenery and done our fair share of painting.

A popular task (due to the location, well organised activity, great before and after pics and the organisations we’re supporting), this Monday night activity is always well attended, so we were able to form multiple teams again tonight to:

• Pull large areas of weeds away from walls and fences.

• Clear small weeds away from the areas of the yard.

• Dispose of the greenery in the outside park area.

• Pick litter.

• Paint gold drainpipes!

It was a fab team effort, with GoodGymers joining forces to rake piles, blitz troublesome weedy areas and climb ladders to reach high painting spots.

The time as usual flew by, and it seemed like we'd only just started before the group were gathering for the final photo and congratulating Lucinda on her 50th good deed! John presented Lucinda with her very own black t-shirt before they both posed for the obligatory pic. Congratulations, Lucinda - you're such a big part of Tower Hamlets GoodGym!

Thanks to John and Chris for pics and project management tonight.

Join the team for a fun get together in Bethnal Green this Friday at Mother Kelly's, while next week, we're back to Meath Gardens for our first visit of 2025!

Until then...