One by one we arrived at the Canal Club Community Garden on Waterloo Gardens this evening.

The garden and surrounding areas of the community centre has become something of a local hub for growing, relaxing - and getting stuck into outdoor projects.

The centre itself is well-used hub that runs a wide range of local activities from youth projects to gardening and cookery workshops, with the garden being an important part of the centre.

After a quick hello and a look around, task owner Sally briefed us on tonight’s gardening tasks.

Dividing into three teams we made a start clearing the overgrown borders, weeding the paving stones and picking litter.

GoodGymers braved thistles, nettles, bugs and all manner of weeds in tidying up this pretty garden.

Our workout was completed with a few trips carrying full bags of nettles, weeds and soil to the bin lock-up around the corner.

To top it all off, we were treated to homemade lemon drizzle cake, fresh coffee and - for some – a brief dip in the small pool in the cherry tree garden...

Sally was the best task owner and host. What a lovely night.

Next week, we’re Limehouse-bound…

And just in – Rue’s speed session in Victoria Park this Thursday!

Have a good week!

8 goodgymers braved the heat to come to Columbia Primary school and put some proper elbow grease into Monday's task.

Thanks to Ingrid who kindly provided gloves and equipment. Shout out to Ed from down the road who lent us a few extra spades.

A very warm welcome to Alex for coming along to his first task.

Enter the Sandmen: Chris, Kareem and Alex who got to work clearing out the sandpit which had become full of toys. Once this was done they emptied out as much of the sand as they could, which Ingrid wanted to save for future use, into bags.

Emma joined us (once she managed to find the right entrance) and was hired on the spot to be trolley team leader. The job description was moving sand to the garden down the road. It involved navigating a busy cycle super highway and not mowing down pedestrians (mainly ourselves).

Ilana, Sam and Anna were the planter posse. This industrious team emptied out the soil from two worn out wooden planters. Once completed, they came in like a wrecking ball and forcefully dismantled the planters. The way Anna kicked the planters down suggested a serious background in martial arts.

We all came together in the end to tidy away the wooden shreds of the planters and do a general sweep up of the soil.

An amazing effort by everyone involved

Who knew there was a sandy beach behind Barge East, with the Olympic Stadium as a backdrop? Not me. But GoodGym were beach-ready and shovel-ready

First, was this really Tower Hamlets territory, as it was close to Hackney Wick station and within a javelin’s distance of the Olympic stadium, which is associated with Newham? Yes, we were re-assured, there was some re-drawing of boundaries when the Olympic Park was built

Emma was an early sign-up, but didn’t want to be the only one. Never fear, Lucinda arrived in record time from work, and David turned up for his first ever GoodGym session, all the way from Lea Bridge Road. He used to cycle through the Hackney Wick area and but found it somewhat changed, since not many years ago

Bola Beach Tennis is a London Legacy Development Corporation project introducing beach tennis to East London. It’s run by East London Tennis Solutions CIC, which uses social grants and raises revenue to deliver new, inclusive opportunities in tennis locally

They’ve got a very nice set of sandy tennis courts, but the wind, and general usage, have resulted in much of the sand ending up where it’s not needed – outside the courts. Our task was to shovel the sand back where it belongs, then rake it so it’s nice and flat. So GoodGym were joining the levelling-up agenda

Meanwhile, Emma and Lucinda undertook a typical GoodGym task: moving wood from one place to another. Kat was accustomed to the beach, as she’d just returned from Porto. She wants to take up beach volleyball but made do with an enjoyable game of doubles tennis after we’d finished.