That pile was a bit mulch

19 Goodgymers helped their local community in Tower Hamlets
Anna Chojnicka
Kareem
Tom Gwillim
Martin
Ryan Morrison
Ilana
Gurprit Sahota
Chris Burns
John Shirley
Darren On Sirius
Ed Long
Fiona M
Asad Kara
Kat Mace
Lobo
Anna Collier
Dnyaneshwari Haware
Angelique Augereau
1 / 20
Tower Hamlets

Monday 6th October

Credits
John Shirley
John Shirley

SESSION ORGANISER

Fiona M
Fiona M

PHOTOGRAPHER

Find out about GoodGym TaskForce

Report written by John Shirley

Share the love

If darkness hadn't quite fallen by the time we arrived at Sivill House, it was certainly teetering over the edge. There was some illumination from the estate lights, and people brought head torches, but our main concern was the effect of the gloomy conditions on those all-important task photos!

Task owner and GoodGymer Ed directed us to a very large pile of woodchip which had been donated to Columbia TRA. It was happily sitting in the car park, but it really needed to be in the gardens, the other side of the estate. It didn’t look too large a pile, until we realised how far back it went…

Still, we had five wheelbarrows, plenty of shovels and bags, and most importantly a 17-strong squad of GoodGymers. It felt like a real workout as we persuaded the reluctant woodchip to separate from the security of its pile, to a new life – mulching! This technique suppresses weeds, conserves soil moisture, insulates plant roots and improves soil health and fertility. Yes, we’ve enabled all that!

A special welcome to newcomers Angelique and Ryan, who really threw themselves into the task. Hope to see you back soon! And thanks Fiona who took some good photos after all!

Despite the darkness, the night was still young as we headed off, with a suggestion that one of the task owners had invited us to the pub. We didn’t know where we were supposed to go, so after wandering around for a bit, four of us headed for the Royal Oak to congratulate ourselves on all our good work


This task supported
Columbia Tenants and Residents Association
Community gardening in estates neighbouring Columbia Road, East London

‘Columbia TRA work to provide ways for more residents to grow on our estates; to improve environmental awareness and sustainability; to get outdoors and make new friends in our community.’ ‘With so many of us not having a garden of our own, getting in touch with nature is more precious than ever. We want to make Columbia Road bloom seven days a week, not just on Sundays!’

See more

Discuss this report
Join us on our next session

Tower Hamlets

The Felix Project Poplar's Saturday morning volunteering session
🗓Saturday 9:30am

Come and join the early bird Felix Project session!

Lobo
One GoodGymer is going - 4 spaces left! 👀