It was fantastic to welcome two new goodgym runners tonight, a big welcome to:

Amy Lucy

Please do give them a follow and a cheer!

This week saw us head up to Union Street Cafe to help out the fantastic organisation that is Common Thread who do fantastic work saving clothes from landfill and encouraging sustainable fashion through clothes swaps and exchanges.

We got stuck straight in as soon as we arrived after a brief brief from Jess the boss.

The tasks tonight were to dress the mannequins with Fran and take photos to help market the clothes exchange, or help sort bags or to make signs ready for the next upcoming clothes exchange.

Everyone got stuck straight in and the results speak for themselves in the photos!

Until next week, happy running! :)

It was time to visit Jess at Common Thread again tonight to help with the fantastic clothes swap sorting for this fantastic idea for an event.

We welcomed back some faces we've not seen for a little while in Katie & Becca and even had a post rehersal future acting star Annie join us later in the task.

We got through a load of donated bags of clothes and sorted them into catagories so that when the next clothes exchange takes place in Jan there will be plenty of sorted stock to go around!

Until next year now, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Running! :)

It was back to The Durham Ox for the last Sustrans task with Simon at the helm for this year.

Simon had been volunteering for Sustrans for over 25 years and now he has retired from work he is looking to travel more and enjoy his time without so many commitments.

This week we took up our snow shovels and removed a huge amount of wet leaves and dirt from this dogleg part of the National Cycle Network (NCN) around the back of the Durham Ox pub.

Once cleared we headed to The Showroom to buy Simon a drink or two to say thanks for all his help and hear a bit more about the man behind the legend! Simon will be back, just not for each Sustrans task.

Michelle very kindly got Simon a card (see photos) to thank him for all the hard work he has put into the tasks we've worked on with him.

It was indeed a night on the tiles for the @GGSHF crew tonight!

We headed up the hill to The HOPE centre to meet with Facilities Manager Mark McKnight who opened up for us and lead us down into the MEGAstore where a huge amount of 'STUFF' has been stored from various work and activities that have taken place in the centre.

In the future, the hope is to clear the room in order to make it into a youth centre. Between now and then, there is a huge amount of sorting and skipping that needs to take place.

No doubt we will be back to continue the work, but on this occasion we focused on sorting and binning ceiling and carpet tiles that were no longer fit for use.

We were really on a roll and filled bags and trolleys up to the brim, ready for Marks team to wheel them out to a skip in the near future.

An excellent job was done by all, some might say our efforts were in the top percentile.. (thanks Ben).

Until next time, happy running :)

IT'S SNOWING!!!!!

Just as it started to come down we got out and got to Common Thread @Union Street to meet Jessica who welcomed us in to the lovely warm space and took us upstairs to the sorting room with offers of hot drinks and snacks! We'll definitely be coming back!

The evenings task was to help sort clothes, shoes and accessories, ready for the upcoming clothes swap that's taking place this Sat 23rd Nov. We got stuck in, grabbing bags and sorting them to make sure items were in good condition and in the correct category.

We even made a SHOE MOUNTAIN before pairing these beauties up, ready for their next owners.

It was a fantastic task and one we will be going back to over winter which is ideal for some winter warmth and light!

Until next time, happy running! :)

I must admit, I was a little surprised at the request to mow a lawn in November! When I arrived Mr D quickly confirmed that it was too wet to cut back the lawn, but he had another job for me.

We had a chat over a drink, in which he told me a lot about his life and his health troubles. He then set me to work moving some cut back branches from the front garden out of sight to the back fence. I then suggested I cut back a buddleia overhanging the path before getting on my way.