Once again, we were completely unprepared for the weather: suddenly, it wasn’t freezing! There was no icy wind from the East, or indeed from any point of the compass. But still, Anna was wearing her sleeping-bag coat, just in case. We even had a dry couple of hours in what promises to be a soggy week; as promised, the drizzle stopped precisely as we arrived for the task

Some task force members were held up by work commitments, or by walking down the wrong street, but we soon got underway. There were two beds to be tackled, one near the entrance and one labelled the “race track”; where GoodGymers were speedily yanking up unsightly weeds and filling large white nags with the debris

With the beds cleared of their leafy offenders, we moved on to the mulch stage: a generous layer, to lock in moisture, deter future weed returns, and generally give the soil a fresh lease of life. Where chaos once reigned, there was now order, tidiness, and a sense of horticultural achievement

For those eager for more chances to do good while breaking a sweat, Tower Hamlets members are branching out to tasks in Camden, Newham, and Greenwich. Closer to home, our own evening tasks return next Monday, and if one night a week isn’t enough, the next two Tuesdays as well!

7 goodgymers travelled to Ocean Youth Connexions for a festive evening of painting and leaf collecting. The ever 'elf-ful' Ilana and Rohan painted the shutters silver (bells); John and Kareem aka the two wise men, painted two doors: one gold, reminiscent of sleigh bells and one black, matching Santa's belt. Emma , Fiona and myself were on leaf picking duty. Kamal was no grinch and supplied us with excellent leaf grabbers to get the job done. Emma finished the task by channelling Santa, carrying big sacks (of rubbish) down to the wheelie bin. The key for the bin was triangular, resembling the green triangle chocolate often seen during the festive period - coincidence? I think not.

Once the tasks were complete, we all rolled merrily along to The Star of The East for a celebratory drink. That's a wrap for Gooddgym Tower Hamlets for 2025.

Monday saw us return to the Cemetery park to help Ken tidy up an area by clearing brambles and other 'verdant villains' from stealing the light and space from other plants. We worked among the graves chopping and pulling bramble roots and small trees to clear space around the historic headstones and protect the other plants.

We braved the thorns and spooky surroundings to complete a successful task. And Ken filled us in on the interesting history of the Cemetery along the way.

Thanks everyone for a job well done and a big welcome to Dan on his second Tower Hamlets task!

We braved the cold and darkness on Monday night to help Ken with some flower planting in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. Trowels and head torches at the ready, we split into groups and set about digging holes and planting hundreds of daffodil bulbs throughout an area of the cemetery park. We worked our way diligently through all of the planting, some even digging so furiously that their tools snapped!

Big welcome to Ariane who joined as from Hounslow. And a big thank you to everyone for a very productive evening. Make sure to take a stroll through the park from February to April to see the fruits of our labour!