This week's group run was from One Strawberry Lane to Rose Street in the Teams area of Gateshead. We delivered around 250 leaflets on behalf of Stomping Grounds NE. Some of the road layouts were a little unusual, but we managed to deliver all of the leaflets without delivering to the same house twice.

Two GoodGymers helped out at Newcastle City Council's Allotment & Garden Festival. The task today was to man the information desk and direct people to where they needed to go, and to try to answer any questions. Most of the questions were about allotment plots. Fortunately the allotment officer was nearby, so we could direct people his way.

We also had the GoodGym flag up and some of our postcards and flyers on the desk. Several people stopped by for a lengthy chat about GoodGym. If any of you are reading this, please sign up and check out the list of upcoming sessions!

At the end of the day, we bumped into Sue from Greenhill Allotments, and helped the allotment association pack away all their things. The festival is quite a large scale event with lots to see and do. It'll be back next year and is well worth a visit.

Another lovely morning at Mowbray Park, acting as Volunteer Coordinator this time. Handing out the lanyards and high vis - the power!

Two of my favourite events in two of my favourite parks on two lovely September mornings! Barcode scanning at Leazes parkrun and marshalling at Saltwell Junior parkrun. What’s not to like?

What a Sunday! While thousands of runners were pounding the streets at the Great North Run, a small team of GoodGym cheer champions were out waving, clapping, whooping, and generally making as much joyful noise as possible.

Armed with the signature red t-shirts, a snazzy new cap and a mighty stash of jelly babies, we set up at our cheering spot just before mile 7 ready to give runners that extra boost when their legs were starting to protest. The sugar hit went down a storm – jelly babies are basically race-day rocket fuel!

The highlight? Spotting our fellow GoodGymers among the sea of vests and bibs – we even got a shout-out from the sea of runners. Nothing beats that moment of recognition and knowing the cheers are landing exactly where they’re needed.

From first-timers to seasoned marathoners, the energy on the course was electric, and it was a real privilege to add our voices to the chorus pushing everyone to the finish line.

Well done to every single runner who smashed the miles, and ate our sweets this weekend. Same time next year? Absolutely!

Tonight's task was a litter pick, as two GoodGymers headed off towards Byker. The intention was to head on to Heaton, but we discovered possibly the most littered place in Newcastle, and possibly the world. A 30 metre stretch of path near Byker KFC managed to fill eight bin liners, mostly with cans and other drinks containers. There was also a lot of evidence of Greggs and KFC customers.

Filling eight bags with litter from such a small area was incredible. Especially since it took two of us less than half an hour. There was a bonus child car seat plus a couple of plastic car wheel covers, all of which we also deposited in bins. A real difference was made tonight. It was nice to receive thank yous from a couple of members of the public tonight too.