"I feel the need, the need for weeds."

13 Goodgymers helped their local community in Tower Hamlets
Louise Dudley
Emma Jones
Stephanie
TJ
Heather
Robert Cooke
Rohan
Stephen Tolfree
Rosie
Liz Baxter
Laura Williams
Chris Burns
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Tower Hamlets

Monday 6th June 2022

Credits
Liz Baxter
Liz Baxter

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Laura Williams
Laura Williams

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Report written by Laura Williams

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One by one we gathered at The Soanes Centre in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park this evening, to collect decent gloves and make a start on a new area of weeding in the park.

Why were we doing this?

The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park is an independent charity that oversees Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, a vital nature reserve and heritage site in Tower Hamlets. The park is 'a people’s park, a sanctuary for wildlife, a place for remembrance and a site for community events.'

With just two full time staff, volunteers are always welcome at the park!

With bundles of woodland paths and other areas to clear of weeds, GoodGymers embarked on our second visit of our Summer series clearing some of the more densely populated paths of cow parsley and goosegrass.

These particular plants are invasive, and block light; they end up being the dominant plants, to the detriment of a more diverse ground flora, and so 13 pairs of productive hands on a Monday night was much appreciated.

Mind the nettles

Well-briefed by Park Manager Ken Greenway, we jogged from The Soanes Centre to the middle of the park, where we worked in a big group, wandering right into the meadow, getting stung despite our best clothing efforts, coupled with Ken's nettle-trampling tutorial, hauling our stash down to the green waste heap, where those pesky plants eventually get shredded, turned to compost and donated to projects all over the city.

We were wading through weeds for an hour, but the time flew. Chatting, sneezing, plucking and hurling, we passed a most companionable, productive hour together.

Before we knew it, it was gone-8:15 and we were posing by the green waste heap for one last pic.

Shout-outs

  • A big congratulations to Task Force member and Social-Squad-Pro Stephen, who tonight hit his 50th good deed.

  • And a huge hello and welcome to Louise, who joined us for her first task tonight, making amazing progress, and expertly navigating, by bicycle, the runners back to base!

Next week, we've been asked to head to the Hollybush Estate, to help out with more shed tasks, mulch-moving aaand...gardening.

Until then.


This task supported
The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park
Looking after the nature reserve and heritage site

The Friends are an independent charity responsible for managing Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, a unique and vital nature reserve and heritage site in East London. Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park offers everyone a breathing space in the heart of East London. This woodland cemetery is a unique place of transformation: a people’s cemetery, a place for remembrance, a sanctuary for humans as well as nature, a place for festivals, field studies and forest schools. Always changing with the seasons, it is rooted in the history of the East End, a place of rich heritage that is full of possibilities and freedom for all.

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Discuss this report
John Shirley

Mon 6th Jun 2022 at 10:07pm

Well done everyone, missed you.

Laura Williams

Mon 6th Jun 2022 at 10:10pm

Thanks John. Really look forward to seeing you next week!

Join us on our next session

Tower Hamlets

St Margaret's House Gardening Club
🗓Friday 4:00pm

Come and join this popular midweek gardening club!

LucindaJohn ShirleyAlicia Rey-HermeJo
4 GoodGymers are going