Seven goodgymers helped Urban Green with bulb planting in St Lawrence Park on a crisp and damp autumn morning.

Urban Green supplied a massive bag of daffodil bulbs which when thrown over a shoulder the wearer looked a lot like an economical santa delivering the present of future flowers.

The actual task was pretty simple anyone taking a channel of a grass slope each and dig a hole for the bulb and then cover it back over. After a tea break half way though we moved on to another grass area in the park where we all took a a section and planned a strip of bulbs.

Unfortunately no before and after pictures as the daffodils will flower in the spring or possibly the one after if deep enough! Hopefully we will get to see the fruits, or flowers, of our labour then.

We are back helping Urban Green in Elswick Park the 16th of November if you want to come along and get involved!

It didn’t actually feel that long since we were last at WERS, the brilliant West End Refugee service, and when I looked at tonight’s sign ups it gave me a sense of Deja vu! The only new addition was Jack, and a great new addition he was. We met at One Strawberry Lane, our brilliant hub which I think will just get cosier as winter creeps in.

The standard quick catch up on the weekend’s sessions and news before it was time to set off. As it was almost even split of runners and walkers, I decided to flip the session tonight and do the fitness session first, making good use of St James’ Park steps! Heart rates raised and legs definitely feeling warmer, we then made it the short journey uphill to WERS where thankfully everything we needed was waiting for us. WERS is an amazing organisation in the west end, supporting refugees in our city with all kinds of support they need. We’d been asked back tonight to continue clearing and tidying up the back garden.

Tonight was one of those simple, satisfying tasks that truly made a difference. Under the epic floodlights- expertly perched in the trees thanks to Tom, we armed ourselves with rakes and brushes and set about clearing the garden which was almost knee-deep in leaves. Everyone put their backs into it while discussing the Halloween weekend gone by.

Before long the paths and gardens were cleared and the grass was once again visible. I think the task owner and service users will definitely see a difference tomorrow. This was one of those classic GoodGym sessions where team work makes a real impact.

On a calm Sunday morning in Mowbray Park, four GoodGymers voluteered at junior parkrun.

Circumstances were a little unusual due to Sunderland's Festival of Light being set up in the park, with some fairground rides and food stalls present. Unfortunately some Saturday night attendees had littered the park, but Paula came to the rescue armed with a litter picker to clear up as much of the mess up as possible.

Richard, Tanya and Debbie also enjoyed a successful morning of volunteering, as well as a long chat over a cup of tea afterwards.

After an extremely tiring working week, today was a welcomed day off. I was very much looking forward to getting back into the Goodgym flow.

Michael and I met on a misty Sunday afternoon at Teams life centre. Armed with a stack of leaflets each and trying not to get lost in the number of cul-de-sac estates, we went upon our quest.

Today, we were delivering leaflets for Foodcycle. They are a brilliant charity who help to provide a warm meal for anybody who would like one. I liked it how on the leaflet it says, "no need to book, just turn up".

I chose the time of 14:00 as I thought it would still be light and then the sun would be setting as I drove home. This was not the case today and the clouds obscured the view. I am sure a couple of miles down the road there would have been a spectacular sky display.

It was a leisurely stroll today, taking in the beautiful autumnal vibes.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday everyone!

Everyone is welcome to the next Goodgym mission tomorrow:

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/group-run-tbc-791825b0-df75-4444-b60e-aadcd11edd15?legacy=true

Armed with a bin bag and litter picker, I marched around Mowbray Park tidying up after the previous night’s festivities for Sunderland’s Illuminations. A lot of mess but a lot of fun.

So much fun I continued the pick all the way through town, across the bridge and right to my door.

I think I earned a slice of birthday cake 🎂

With Half Term upon us we were a little thinner on the ground tonight, as this was also the week of the planned metro works, affecting a lot of routes in and out of Newcastle. We still got a newbie along for the session which we always love to see, give a warm welcome cheer to lovely Fiona on her first good deed.

There was a slight bit of drama at the start of the session with Stepney Bank Stables closing early and temporarily locking poor Jack inside- luckily Damu and Max witnessed this horsing around and managed to get him out before all the lights went off. Phew!

Tonight was the first Litter Pick Challenge of the autumn and after splitting into two teams we headed off to the quayside to complete our bingo boards armed with the floodlights and litter pickers. As you can see from the photos we were on the lookout for all kinds of random bits of rubbish tonight and in just 15 minutes Fiona’s team of runners were victorious. Incidentally, both teams got all of the items so I did reward everyone with a prize at the end. Overall, two bags of rubbish were collected in just 25 minutes from along the quayside on what was a calm and warm October night.

After three rounds of the leg-tappy game (technical term) to warm up, it was then time for a 3,2,1 fitness session, where everyone completed sets of walking lunges, star jumps, assisted press ups for time- expect everything to ache tomorrow!

There are two community missions listed on Sunday, and yes, it is possible to do both! We are then back at Strawberry Lane on Monday for some leaf raking to kick off November at WERS. See you soon.