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.