It has been a will they / won’t they sort of day as the weather has bounced between a little bit sunny (for approx 5 mins) to heavy hail, gale force winds and the ever present rain. I thought about cancelling the session about 20 times but knowing the hardy duo of Aimee and Lucy would be coming along I kept calm and carried on.

Tonight was our first group session of 2025 and finally my 300th good deed. Yippee! Fond of the fuss, I was delighted when Lucy arrived with a special banner for me to celebrate the occasion that seems to have been a very long time coming.. almost seven years in fact! Thanks Lucy.

To keep things simple and to keep the thread going of our January litter pick relay, we were heading out into freezing cold Newcastle to do battle with some rubbish around Leazes Park. It was lovely to catch up after our Christmas break and talk about what everyone has been up to, as well as plans for the year ahead. A very simple task made slightly challenging by the wind but before long we’d collected two bags of rubbish and we could definitely have carried on. Sadly the perimeter of Leazes Park is a bit of a litter trap so we will definitely be back.

A brisk walk back to base was the best I could offer for a fitness session tonight but as ever we headed home with a warm glow at staring our week so positively.

We’ve got a bonus group session this Saturday at Stepney Bank Stables. This is the perfect session for beginners so please share with anyone you think would be up for giving us a go in 2025. All the info is here.