The name’s Pond. James Pond.

7 Goodgymers helped their local community in Tower Hamlets
Rob Mitton
Rohan
Ivy
Laura Williams
Charlotte Fountaine
Martin
Beth Hoskins
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Tower Hamlets

Thursday 30th September 2021

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Laura Williams
Laura Williams

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Report written by Laura Williams

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And so to Part II

A cool sized crew of 8 met Michael of Bethnal Green's Phytology and Margaret from Teesdale and Hollybush Tenants and Residents Association this evening, who came equipped with lanterns and quiche.

Tonight was Part II of our time creating the new pond with the Nature Reserve Team.

What's the story?

A sanctuary for any resident who would like to spend time in this open water, biodiverse area, an overhaul is now overdue, and many pairs of productive, active GoodGym hands over the last two nights (and during the weeks ahead - keep an eye out for next week's listings) is a bit of a godsend to this new, ambitious project. It means that interns and other volunteers are able to be distributed around other parts of this big project, and we're able to fill in the gaps (literally and metaphorically).

A workout-and-a-half

So tonight we picked up where Team Pit left off last night: we worked in two teams of four, shovelling mud and soil into barrows and wheeling it around the corner to the new wild meadow area. It was tough, it was constant... It was a workout-and-a-half for lats, obliques and cardiovascular systems. But we did it.

An hour and a half pretty much flew by - although not for our poor old forearms - but it was thoroughly enjoyable. We welcomed Rob, our first time GoodGymer (you did amazing, Rob!) and welcomed the return of our Charlotte, who we haven't seen for a while. And fantastic to see Rohan for his second night at the pond. Way to go on a two-nighter.

And Michael our main task owner for the evening was amazing: unstoppable, he set the bar pretty high for shovelling at quite the rate, while also wheeling at a pretty impressive pace, but was most keen to lead us to resident Eve's cake and quiche at the end of the session, where we sat in the small hut and replenished glycogen stores before heading off.

Cake and a bit of company

What a lovely, lovely evening. The rain was barely noticeable, the wind even less so: we just enjoyed one another's company, by lantern light, rounded off with some good old-fashioned baking. Lucky doesn't cut it.

Until next time.


This task supported
Hollybush Estate
Hollybush's ‘Rocky’ Gardens and ‘Strawberry Fields’ orchard are now an established nature reserve with 79 growing spaces

The Hollybush and Teesdale Estate Urban Growers project began in April 2009 in Rocky Park – a disused children’s play area. Now enjoyed by the whole community, the area includes seats and communal herb beds for all to use.

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Tower Hamlets

Saturday morning session at The Felix Project's Poplar depot
🗓Saturday 9:30am

Come and make spend a sociable couple of hours with the team at Felix!

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