Stepney Bank Stables is a charity that uses horses to engage with young people as a medium for teaching kindness, commitment, resilience and responsibility. They lay claim to Newcastle’s oldest working stable yard which was the site of our task today, continuing the series of tasks GoodGym Newcastle has been working on at the stables recently. Some time ago a grant allowed the installation of cobbles to restore the original look of the stables and while they do look amazing, they’re difficult to keep clean. This was our task today!

The ladies were out in force in this gem of a city centre location. A big welcome to Krishti for her first task! We hope your back-breaking contribution today doesn’t stop you coming back for more!

There was no horsing around today! We got the bit between our teeth and scraped and swept those cobbles until they looked like new! Tanya and Debbie definitely had the broom technique off pat and the hoof picks were also very effective! Katie, Lucy and Liz also got down on their knees, sweeping and scraping the cobbles.

Unbeknownst to us, GoodGymer Seb was passing along the road above the stable yard and took the aerial picture you can see in the report!

After two and a half hours, Tanya and Debbie had blisters on their hands and mine and Tanya’s colds were taking their toll. We cleared about two thirds of the yard - please take a moment to look at the photos and admire our handiwork! Plenty more tasks still to be done at this wonderful place though so keep an eye on the website for future listings!