Notwithstanding the blustery wind a team of Goodgymmers assembled outside the Golden Fleece to assist the Wanstead Flat Pickers (@Flats_Pickers on twitter) in their monthly clean-up of the flats. With City of London rangers supplying the tools and taking away the rubbish, all that was needed was some energy and enthusiasm - never a problem for Goodgym members!

With the warning words of the ranger still in our ears the team tooled up and split into little groups, going their own way for the next hour, roaming the flats, collecting anything that didn't belong. Lo & behold, (former?) hiding spots were discovered, some pharmacy provided sharps bins found (mostly empty) and quite a selection of condom wrappers cleared up.

Rumour has it some member of the team was hiding behind a tree to keep warm, but we'll put that down to banter.... ;)

As the meeting point is outside a pub, it was not more than logical that some of the team popped inside to get out of the wind and warm up with some coffee/tea, discussing all things Goodgym in the process, including possible options of perhaps starting our own GG litter picking team on the Parkrun side of the Wanstead Flats.... so watch this space!

P.S... pun-credit goes to the always creative Liz

A lovely batch of runners assembled at 7pm yesterday, primed for some unknown volunteering work at Cody Dock.

New runner Amanda joined the ranks, with Gill and Helen coming back for their 2nd and 3rd sessions too. Fresh faces with new energy always a welcome addition.

We did our run through of weekend warrior activity, mainly focusing on the mileage munchers in York. With Charlotte, Justin and Graham popping out for a wee 42km in the pouring rain, Sharon and Kev nailed the classic 10mile distance too. It's great when a plan comes together, eh? When it involves a large group of us sharing endorphines, all the better. Even had the Parkrun tribe out early doors on Saturday, the 5k go-getters making it happen at Victoria Dock.

"What new fangled invention gets under your skin"? Was our random weekly question. Plenty of gadgetry to get on our high horse about, from electric scooters, Segways, eves-dropping Alexias, infinite software-updates, Apple watches and those pesky wireless headphones. What happened to immersing oneself into Victorian novels asides a crackling fireplace, with a warm brew in hand? Bring on Brexit.

Kidding.

Once we had danced along our navigating waterway to Cody Dock, we met the man on the ground, Simon. Who gave us some brushes and black paint, to finish off a job we started a month ago. Painting railings. What a calming and a therapeutic 45mins that was, in fact, I didn't do my normal time check, screeching "5mins left", I zoned into the zen of the stroke. Sharon had a pop at James and Tim's 2 dimensional painting, a few patches were missed to be fair, though equally, art just can't be rushed.

Si let us on board the now water dwelling boat that we sanded, cleaned (and basically built). It looks proper. Little bar in the back, plush red booths and a nice wooden floor finish. They're going to take local schools out for ecology trips, do free boat licensing training and also hire it out for partys (got your attention, Brad?). We'll be doing a social on here at some point soon, that's for sure.

Nice one for all your painting hands yesterday, bit by bit you've helped turn Cody Dock into an even lovelier place, that's not easy. Long live the community.

Next week it's our Canal Task, sign up here

I'm going to leave you all with a Halloween invitation from Cody Dock, have a great weekend all:

You are warmly invited to join us for a FREE, family-friendly Halloween evening of fun and mischief, Saturday 27 th October 5 -9 pm at Cody Dock.

Activities for all ages include spooky shadow puppets, candle rolling with Simon our beekeeper, monster disco, face painting, fortune telling, live music and much more besides. See attached flyer for more information.

Enter your carved pumpkin into our annual competition and don’t forget your fancy dress - prizes to be won! There will be stalls and warming food and drink, with the Cody Dock cafe and bar open throughout.

All welcome! Bring your friends.

We look forward to seeing you soon

Sally and Belle

It's the best time of the week when Newham's finest Goodgymers assemble ! even the sun peeked from the clouds to welcome the magnificent 12 runners,

After a brisk warm up we started with our random question of the week "if you could travel back in time to witness where and what would you go"
as usual the mix of answers give an insight into the motley crew from seeing Man U getting beaten at Old Trafford to woolly mammoths walking the planet to Nan and Grandad's blind date !

A quick 3 ks down the River Lea /Limehouse cut to Manorfield Primary school were Paul Jackson the head teacher set about detailing the task's that required our collective might ,

From shifting desks,moving Steel band pans to a new location and jet-washing the front pavement, tidying the drama hall and moving staging and seating , all carried out in double quick time.

As usual Paul was full of praise for all our hard work that greatly help the teaching environment for all the children and teachers alike ,

The run back to our Olympic park home sped by and plans for a quick beverage to shake our thirst was made !

Great work people looking forward to next week already and the return of Brahma.