I got to the project at 11am as advertised on my bike, but the majority of the work was done. I didn't see any other goodgymers. All the staff were friendly, so stayed to help out a bit more. Shame about the rain which kicked in around 13.30pm.

It was chucking it down so Linda and Louise opted for good old public transport and arrived to find The Magpie Project Summer Party still in full swing. The project assists Mothers and under 5s in temporary accommodation. The first job was on the way to the mission when Linda found one of the 5 year olds on his own in the street heading for the main road, said escapee was soon safely reunited with concerned Mumma.

There didn’t seem to be anyone taking charge of things so we used our initiative and started taking down the notices. Then we spotted someone dismantling their stall on their own so jumped in to help which is where Louise’s prowess in gazebo dismantling came to the fore. Further bits and pieces of tidy up followed including folding trestle tables and fishing the remaining toys out of the lucky dip for reuse at the next event.

Satisfied that we couldn’t be of much more use and with Louise keen to move on to her 3rd mission of the day. We said our farewells and left.

Every one loves a party so was a pleasure to help the staff and volunteers set up for their 5th Birthday party and end of term celebrations.

Tables placed ready for fun activities.

Gazebos erected for food stall and chill out zone.

Ice and water to chill drinks.

Refreshments for the fire fighters.

Jobs completed we would return 3 hours later to pack it all away.

A return to help pack away following the birthday party and end of season celebrations for the staff and families of the Magpie Project.

Kevin and I where joined by Graham,Rosa and Hilary.

Tables to put away,gazebos to take down,bunting to fold and a little bit of litter picking.

All jobs completed and so we headed to the pub for some refreshments and in the time honored GG Newham tradition orange juice and lemonade with several bags of crisps

We arrived to a flurry of activity at Magpie Close setting up for the Magpie project summer celebration, Jane immediately signed us in and started running through our task list, helpfully listed out with a map of the entertainment spaces to be constructed.

Katrin and Goodgym first-timer Pete teamed up to build two BBQs from scratch for the food station, whilst Hilary and Miriam set out constructing two gazebos for the Tombola and Merchandise areas. The gazebos went up in no time (we had Goodgym pros on the job), so after finishing, we started on setting up the tables, chairs and various merch and games equipment for the fair. We got a bit creative with the fashion section, pinning up signage and merch to attract the punters.

Katrin and Pete did a solid job getting the BBQs constructed and the food stations arranged just in time and Jane was so impressed that we all received food vouchers for our efforts!

Although we were tempted to celebrate with a jump on the bouncy castle it was strictly under-5s only so we refrained and went for a high five and a photo op instead :) It was great to get involved with the Magpie Project and see lots of smiling faces arriving for the celebrations before we parted ways, a great start to the weekend!

The Magpie Project is a Newham based charity who support families in temporary or unsuitable housing.

During the most recent lockdown the Magpie Project was brought to my attention through a Goodgym task requesting recordings of bedtime stories. I've been recording stories quite regularly and wanted to find more ways to help this wonderful charity and a call out on social media for Mother's Day cards was just that opportunity.

I have been so blown away by the response to this task and cannot thank you all enough for your amazing generosity. There have been cards sent from all over the Goodgym family - Islington, Greenwich, Hounslow, Slough, Liverpool, Sheffield, York and Oxford.

Cards have been both bought and handmade and all are gorgeous. There have been messages of hope, love, strength and admiration. Hopes for cups of tea and time in the sunshine. I'm sure that the Mums receiving these cards will be really touched.

A couple of people to highlight in particular:

Anna, who told her own Mum about the task. Anna's Mum sent the charity some cards and is now an honorary Goodgym-er! Simon who made some beautiful screen-printed cards and sent me photos of the whole process - such an interesting and beautiful process.

Again, thank you all for sending in your cards. I'm sure that they will make a lot of Mums smile on Sunday. You are all lovely xx