A visit to Emmanuel church for the team on Tuesday.

We started on the preparation for 2 new flower beds in the church ground.

They have a grassed area between some of the tress and the church members decided they need more flowers,which would help the pollinators.

Grass was removed and taken to the compost pile,the ground was a little dry but Adam made light work of loosing it up,a great way to celebrate his 25th good deed

Two new beds are now ready for the bulbs to be planted.

We look forward to seeing them bloom next year.

And again the ladies did us a wonderful post task feast......I didn't get a photo of the chicken...which disappeared very quickly

We are off to St Marys Allotment next week for some fence dismantling....Head torches are a must

A very delayed report due to technical issues.......computer said no and then on a tech free holiday

Another wonderful visit to see Ang at Hackney Marsh Adventure Playground and a classic GG task for the night.

A very large pile of mulch to be shifted.

Lots of shoveling,walking and spreading and we had the area under the zip line full of mulch ready for the children the following morning. We even had time to put a good layer under the large swing area.

We will return to see Ang again in October.

On Tuesday evening last week (apologies for the delay), a brave band of GoodGymmers took on a task that was part DIY makeover, part arachnid diplomacy, and entirely brilliant.

Our mission: transform a small room in a local church into something a little less “spider sanctuary” and a little more “welcoming space.” Armed with rollers, masking tape, and nerves of steel, we got to work.

First up—taping. The edges of doors and skirting boards were treated to a precision masking job worthy of a crime scene investigator. No paint was going rogue on our watch. Special mention and welcome to Steven who worked wonders with the tape!

Then came the floor protection phase, where we laid down cardboard and paper like we were preparing for a Jackson Pollock session. The room looked like it was about to host a very cautious picnic.

But before any painting could begin, we had to face our eight-legged co-tenants. Cobwebs clung to corners, and spiders the size of small dogs (okay, maybe not that big) peered down from the rafters. We were assured they wouldn’t bite, but that didn’t stop a few squeals and some impressive ladder acrobatics as we cleared the high-up hideouts.

With the room de-spidered and the floor safely swaddled, we got rolling—literally. About half the room got a fresh coat of paint, and while we didn’t quite finish the job, we left it looking brighter and cleaner.

Big thanks to everyone who came along and brought their best brushwork, bravery, and banter. Same time next week—unless the spiders file a complaint.

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.