Dashing through Tower Hamlets ( in slow motion) dressed in small red costumes carrying safety equipment, Darren and I were asked my Mrs D to trim her Bay tree and two others. Unfortunately the tools were in the shed and she couldn't find the key . We managed to ask neighbour to borrow some shears and got back on the job. We did a quick job of trimming some potted shrubs, Mrs D then found the key and we trimmed a taller red tree using the ladder and loppers from the shed. By the time we'd done that we didn't have time to get the bay tree done. Botch job?
Mrs D seemed happy with the work so far but might need some more help to get it complete.

 It was a beautiful evening for a good-sized group of GoodGymers to join Margaret and Ash on the Hollybush Estate last night.

We were once again working in Rocky Park, on the continuation of the overhaul of the community growing site.

(Only recently the Rocky Park Urban Growers were winners of the Tower Hamlets in Bloom award - see trophy in group pic).

Marvelling at how much Margaret and Ash have achieved in the short time since our last visit, we were soon dispatched to four sites across the small area to shovel soil before depositing into newly constructed planters.

Working in small groups of 2 and 3, it was an active, productive and very sociable hour.

After posing for the final picture complete with trophy, we gathered to celebrate Ilana’s birthday with John's phenomenal cake, and Lucinda's mysterious candles, before heading to the pub to continue the celebrations.

We return to Hollybush at the start of June for a Friday night special!

A Sunny run and some serious shovelling: GoodGym gets Grounded 🌞🏃🌱

It was one of those evenings yesterday — the kind where the sun’s shining, the city is buzzing, and the pavements stretch out before us. We gathered by Temple Station to greet some new faces - welcome to the group Emily and Siobhan to your first session! Lovely to have you join us. After a quick warm up we took off along the river, weaving between after-work revellers spilling onto the Embankment, and soaking up every golden ray.

Our destination was a community garden with a view so iconic it could distract even the most focused of GoodGymmers. Tower Bridge at golden hour? You don't get much better than that. We didn't have too much time to admire the view though— there was work to be done!

We arrived to find the ever-enthusiastic team already grafting away, tools at the ready, and preparing for their reinforcements (us) to jump in. Under the guidance of Grounded — a brilliant social enterprise using gardening as ecotherapy — our job was to help transform a neglected patch into a green oasis of calm and healing for the city’s residents.

We split into teams with some of us lugging bags of compost up the stairs, others transporting around sacks of Leca (clay pebbles good for drainage, although it could also pass as the name of an Indie band from the 90s), while the rest of us found ourselves elbows-deep in soil emptying old beds before setting up a brand-new irrigation system. The heat of the evening just highlighted how important watering is!

It was sweaty work, but spirits were high - the combination of transforming a garden and seeing the progress already being made was inspiring.

If that wasn't enough of a full body workout we just had time to squeeze in a fitness blast to finish, this time a strength workout with a twist. While one of us ran a lap around the garden in the stopwatch role, the rest of us got stuck into push-ups, planks and tricep dips. Thankfully, nobody pulled the “I’m just walking this lap” trick, and we even inspired a few people sitting nearby to join in — next time we'll get them to help carry the bags of leca too! Anyone else got shaky arms today or is that just me?

All that was left was the run back, with the skyline lit up like a movie set. After all that hard graft, it never looked more beautiful.

Well done everyone — you smashed it. Next week, we’re heading to the oldest youth club in the world - see you there!

A dash through the sun to help with Ms S' garden. Weeding sycamore saplings, goose grass and stinging nettles from between the slabs and getting rid of bind weed. We agreed to leave a bit of garden wilder and Ms S is a fan of foxes and wildlife in general. She also suggested I become vegan. Measured the window as requested, 143cm. All went well apart from I forgot to take an after pic.