A welcome return to Plaistow Primary School for this evening’s session in the sunshine, and an equally warm welcome to Nelson on his first ever GoodGym mission.

Hilary led the group from the Aquatic Centre through the streets of West Ham and upon our arrival at the school gates, we were guided through a classroom into an outdoor area where in one corner were all the pieces (we hoped) that would be needed to help build a wooden Wendy House that the children could then play in. Our first task was to try and find some instructions on how to construct the house, which proved more challenging than it should have as they were tucked away in a plastic bag wrapped inside some wooden strips wrapped inside some hard to open packing film, along with bags and bags of different sized screws.

Rosa took on the job of project manager whilst the rest of us gathered all the pieces to try and make sense of what we had and what needed to be done. The first task was to identity all the different sized screws, which was best done by pouring them all out onto the floor and painstakingly sorting by hand. In parallel Nick and Graham started to lay out the first pieces of the puzzle, whilst Nelson got to work unwrapping all the remaining parts. Guided professionally by Rosa, step 1 was to insert a window into the frame followed by fitting the front door taking note of the need to have all the spacers in the right place…judicious use of a handy battery operated screwdriver and we felt we were finally making progress, and quickly moved to step 2 which was attaching four joists to the floor panel - which required a bit more team co-ordination as the screws needed to be fitted from the top surface and, in spite of being at school, we didn’t have a ruler or tape measure to hand… - but somehow we got them all correctly attached…and then we ran out of time as the school needed to be shut for the evening, so we tidied up as best we could and closed the door behind us.

So in the end we didn’t build a house this evening, but we at least got some foundations in place - this particular mission could require a few return visits to get completed!

T’was 15 nights before Christmas, and all through the Printhouse, only 6 Goodgymers were stirring (and probably a mouse or two).

The mission was the Christmassiest of the year, wrapping presents for the kids to spread some Christmas cheer, Our host Rosie made the task nice and cosy, The wrapping stations were ready with a drink and a snack, To make sure it was good Christmas craic, We listened to a few Christmas songs that were a bit cheesy, We had lots of pairs of scissors so the present wrapping was easy peasy, Next week we’re planning to do an Xmas social, maybe pop open some fizz, So if you fancy it get signed up and join us for a Christmas quiz

A spritely bunch of GoodGymmers gathered at the Print House, where we welcomed Paige back for her 2nd run and Nick for his first ever group run with GoodGym Newham. We were honoured to be his task of choice to celebrate his 500th good deed, particularly as Nick is not so often spotted running with GoodGym groups, having mostly worked his way to such a substantial number through various missions to help older isolated people. Shopping for example – he now knows the Waitrose at the Brunswick Centre like the back of his hand. Anyway, very well done Nick!

On to tonight’s Random Weekly Question: “If you won AU$20,000 worth of travel vouchers in a raffle, where would you go?” South East Asia seems pretty popular, with Paul expressing an interest in going to Thailand and just staying there for a year. Paige and Rosa were quite similarly inclined, but with a bit more travelling in the region and maybe over to Australasia. Graham wants to go to Japan and Nick would like to see more of South America. I’d love to do the Trans-Siberian Railway, but maybe not right now… Later on the run Eugene told me he’d like to go to Tanzania, and then work his way down to South Africa. All sound great – we just need to find a half marathon in one of those places and away we go!

Then we were off down the Greenway (sadly now with diversion in place ☹) to Plaistow Primary School where we were met by Deputy Head Rosie. Two main tasks to get on with (some compost turning will have to wait for another time) – to move a pile of mud from one place to another place, and to weed some of the beds that the children have been using to grow veg. Eugene, Rosa, Graham, Nick and Paul got on with the former – the mud pile was used for play by the children, but it had been there for a while and now they need some fresh mud to play in (or something like that). It was a lot, as the pictures show! Paige and I cleared out quite a few of the beds so that they’ll be ready for planting again and it was great to hear that the kids do actually like eating what they’ve grown. Rosie, of course, did a bit of both tasks and supervised.

We pottered back to the Print House for a celebratory OJ and lemonade, well done everyone! Hope to see you at next week’s task, where we'll be heading up to Hackney Marshes Adventure Playground, or if any of you fancy a parkrun on Saturday, I’ll be at Mile End.

New session yesterday at an allotment in Plaistow, courtesy of Rosie. A quartet met and discussed "worst thing you've watched live or otherwise?" Tree of Life, an awful trippy opera, a theatrical performance you starred in, and a book you read that was butchered in the theatre.

We reached St Mary's allotments and met the Princes, with a hum of helicopters circling the flames over the police station, the soundtrack to this week's efforts. Elaine took us through to the fences I underestimated - "let us know if you have any other jobs, we'll do the fences in no time". The were hefty and sizeable things, compounded by a lack of light, a very narrow path and a lot of thorns. The two quotes we heard yesterday "it got me", as thorns gripped into Rebecca's body. And in deadpan tones "it's on my foot", calmly referring to the razor sharp edge of a 100kg ish fence, fortunately no feet were lost during this good deed.

Cracking team work, which is almost a given with you guys. Next week we hit up Get Out, sign up here.

Have a decent weekend all,

Till next week,

B

Half of us met on a fresh December eve, the penultimate session of the year. We spoke about "things that make you feel young?" Helping older people with technology, getting ID'd, bickering with a sibling and spending all day with kids. A selection of youth serums you can't buy in the shops.

With a snaking journey to Plaistow Primary, we never wavered in doubt with Hilary's navigation. A doubling of numbers at the school, with Hitesh, Rosa and Rosie meeting us there, well Rosie just stayed there. She took us through to the designated wrapping room and we got to work. A lovely gift from the parents to raise funds so all kids could have a xmas present. We wrapped solidly for forty five minutes, some better than others, but let's not get into that again, there's no I in team, and all that. EIGHTY TWO presents were wrapped, I had no idea how many we would do, but I'll take that. Stupendous work guys, that's a huge haul of gifts, and massively offloaded some work off the next batch of wrappers. Excellent session Rosie, in spite of your caretaker's lack pf enthusiasm, that was a refreshingly different task (and warm).

Next week we go indoors again and help feed those in need, sandwich making at Emanuel Church, sign up here. Followed by the traditional GGN XMAS Shin Dig, not to be missed. Details will be released asap.

Bank some cold miles and have a good week.

Till next week,

B

We welcomed Rebecca on her first ever GoodGym session, and also Jack for his first with Newham, touristing down from Barnet. Great to meet you both, hope to see you again soon!

The evening’s numbers benefited from Ruth’s six monthly reverse commute from Chelmsford as well as the regulars in the form of Paul, Brad and Matt, we had a decent size turnout to lend some compost moving capability down at Rosie’s school.

But first, we paid tribute to Brahma’s traditional Random Weekly Question – topically (in the context of the King’s speech), what law/legislation would you introduce or get rid of? I now realise what a challenge it is to remember what everyone has said, but it went something along the lines of getting rid of visa restrictions/the monarchy/20mph limits/lifetime ISA limits/north sea oil and gas licenses but we’re going to make trains free. All interesting answers…

Next we hopped down the Greenway, passing the Cathedral of Sewage and the bit that smells at the moment but not normally (honest) before taking a left down towards our destination at Plaistow Primary School. We were there to help set up a couple of beds for some very small children to grow veg. Hurrah! What a great thing to do – it involved scraping sand out of a playhouse type thing, digging out the weeds and emptying the beds ready to line them with said scraped sand and then a load of new compost so that they’re ready to plant up and be enjoyed.

Job done, we headed back up the Greenway to the PrintHouse to enjoy a pint of orange juice and lemonade or similarly refreshing beverages.

See you next week – we’re back at the Up Garden, which is always a top session. Sign up here.