First up, a big welcome to Amy, who joined us for her first GoodGym task — great to have you along. And welcome back to Fuad for the second time in as many weeks. Brilliant to have you with us again, and great to share the task with you both.

We were back helping Care4Calais, this time at their new location just off Wick Lane. A group of four of us jogged over from the Aquatics Centre, meeting Amy at the gate to the storage building. On first impressions, this felt less like a task and more like an escape room in reverse, with a series of entry codes, room numbers to find and combination locks standing between us and the mission. Thankfully, only a small amount of wandering aimlessly was required before finding the right place, where Nick was ready and waiting for us.

Once inside, we had clear instructions: sorting baby and toddlers' clothes into age brackets. Simple, focused, we got stuck in - with the occasional query over significant differences in Australian vs UK or European sizes, whether ages were expressed in months or years, and taking delight in high-quality pieces originating in Bangladesh. Several boxes were sorted in around 40 minutes, and then we were on our way, now escaping in the correct order.

We’ll be back there again in about a month to help out some more.

What else is coming up?

This Saturday we’ve got our second visit to help Clean Green E15, revitalising some planters in Maryland. Join us there — and/or come along to parkrun first. It’s likely to be local, either Hackney Marshes or Wanstead; we’ll update the listing page once confirmed.

London Fields Junior parkrun - there are GoodGym volunteers here most Sundays and it's always great fun.

No Newham task lined up for next Tuesday, but Tower Hamlets are at Ocean Youth Connexions on Monday if you need a weekday GoodGym fix. Otherwise, we’re expecting to be back the following week (17th) at Hackney Marshes Adventure Playground. Keep an eye on the listings for updates.

See you soon 👋

...and as it turned out, a lot of heavy lifting and creative problem solving for Louis and I this evening.

Ms R's daughter was on hand to (try and) explain what needed moving where, but at first glance it seemed there wasn't enough space to get the double bed moved into the spare room which was the primary request, such that Ms R could then be released from hospital on her birthday.

Rather setting the pattern for the evening's entertainment, Ms R's daughter mentioned that she expected us to remove the single bed and mattress from this room...so we did that first after a bit of DIY to remove the headboard. She then mentioned that the armchair also needed removing and disposing of...so we got that parked in the hallway temporarily.

We then turned our attentions to moving the double bed from the main bedroom into the newly emptied spare room - which proved to be something of a challenge as well, because it was an Ottoman storage bed, temperamental in nature - once we removed the mattress it sprung open...We all sat on it, gathering our breath and trying to work out a plan - which is where the packing tape idea came along, and we wrapped as much tape as we could to keep the bed shut, turned it on its side and moved it as quickly as we could to the spare room before it sprung open once again.

This then left a sofa bed to be moved also into the spare room, and the return of an exercise bike, the moving of a chest of drawers, and two heavy bedside tables...and finally Ms R's daughter confirmed we'd done everything she needed. She gave us each a packet of biscuits by way of thanks.

We wished her well for her mother's return (and upcoming birthday), and went down the stairs with the remaining armchair and two cushions in our hands...and out into the welcome cool air of a Monday evening...

When Mr R opened the front door this afternoon, his first comment to me was "you're very punctual", to which I could only smile and reply "I try...".

The usual weekly pleasantries out of the way, it was a quick review of the list and the now familiar short walk to Tesco to fill the basket with primarily fresh fruit and vegetables. Upon my return, Mr R asked if I wouldn't mind going upstairs to the communal mailbox to check his post, which was easily done, and all was good for another week.

The recent rain had inconsiderately left large puddles and muddy areas all around the course this morning, so inevitably anyone wearing their shiny new(ish) trainers to the Fields was going to find they were going home in a slightly darker, more mottled, pair.

However the conditions didn't seem to keep the crowds away, and it was great to welcome 49 runners under the big tree this morning (including at least 4 first timers), along with 13 volunteers keen to don the Hi Viz, including GoodGym regulars Rue, Hilary, Louise, Sarah, Sooz and Nick who all performed their respective roles perfectly to ensure everything ran to plan (and received a number of high fives from our runners by way of reward).

The conditions underfoot also didn't seem to be a hindrance to performance, as we saw a super speedy winner, 5 PBs and 49 shiny happy faces cross the finish line - a great way to start the new month. More of the same next week under the big tree - join us if you can.