Firstly, a big welcome to Lauryna on her first Goodgym session.

After a couple of weeks away in our second home, we were back at Stepney Bank Stables base and were tasked with freshing up the bedding for our hoofed friends.

We didn't have any time to horse around as we had to fill up a few wheelbarrows full of hay from the top stables all the way down to the bottom one.

A few of the horses were over the bale with excitement when they heard us approaching, which made it interesting when we had to get in with them to deliver their fresh ware.

After a quick reload of fresh stuff, and making sure the top stables were all spruced up, we dropped off the last of the new ground cover (which Bob the horse took great pleasure in doing his custom wee on!). And hopefully we will have straw-ted out a good night's sleep for our equine pals!

Monday: check. Brilliant turnout: check. Great task: check. Dog at GoodGym: check. Every box for a perfect start to the week was checked as we met for a marvellous Monday at Stepney Bank Stables.

A great group tonight for the session helping our hosts Stepney Bank Stables with a clear-up job to get the top stables spick and span ahead of Saturday’s Ouseburn festival where visitors are able to take a tour. Stepney Bank Stables is a fabulous community project and if you’ve never been make sure to pop in on Saturday if you can.

It was great to see Dan and Ellie back for their second task in three days as we don’t get to see them for months at a time. We also welcomed back Matt who did his first ever GG task at the weekend. Damu arrived in a celebratory mood tonight too with a pint in hand from The Cluny! That’s a good way to enhance GoodGym performance I’m sure.

Lots of elbow grease was required for the task this evening: brushing, scraping and flicking being three key actions for effective cobble cleaning. None of this is glamorous (apart from perhaps using a leaf blower) and Louise also got stuck into some heavy duty cobweb clearing despite a dodgy knee. Best of all, Dan’s wheelbarrow skills were required- always a happy sight. You’ll also see from the photos Ellie had the very impawtant job of keeping Stepney Bank Stables resident Good Boy Scout company for much of the evening.

Before long 45 minutes had passed and the yard looked sparkling - check out the before and after photos!

With a very squeezed amount of time we headed back for a team challenge to find and photograph three things using whichever strategy they saw fit: something that makes you smile, a living creature or insect and three street name signs. There were only five seconds in it at the end so it was pretty much a draw in my eyes.

Thanks everyone, a really positive start to the week.

As I sat in the car on this chilly autumn* night with the hail hammering down I wondered whether ANYONE would show up to the session this evening, but I should not have feared as we had a complete register and a group of hardcore GoodGymers despite the challenging weather.

(*SUMMER - APPARENTLY)

Four of us met tonight to do a plog on the Tyne but it seemed frankly quite a silly thing to attempt given at one point there was so much rain we wouldn’t be able to tell where the path stopped and the river began. Maybe that’s a slight exaggeration but I hastily cobbled together a Plan B as thankfully Stepney Bank Stables brilliant task owner was still around to give us some warm and dry indoor stuff to do. Plog on the Tyne became a quick litter pick, shelf tidy and tack cleaning session and thankfully I don’t think anyone minded.

I added a sensory spin to the litter pick which made the time fly- filling three bags with stuff you can see, hear, touch, smell and taste. Don’t worry, it was hypothetical and more of a thinking challenge than a doing one and no GoodGymers were harmed in the making of his task. Heading back to the stables and on to two more jobs despite the fact the rain had briefly paused, we did some tidying up in the main entrance before finishing off with some tack clearing. If you’ve never done this last one, you won’t know how therapeutic it can be and it certainly seemed to spur on some deep conversation tonight too.

The next few weeks looks stacked with good stuff and we’d love to see you at a session again soon. Have you seen the Ouseburn Trust session on offer next Monday? It’s perfect for beginners so see if you can bring a friend along too.

It was a lovely sunny evening to be in one of our favourite Monday evening places - Stepney Bank Stables. We started the evening with some fantastic news - Sport England has pledged £10,000 to the current Crowdfunder! This takes them past their initial target and opens up the stretch target. There are a few days left donate - if you'd like to help this wonderful charity keep doing their amazing work with local children with differing needs, here's the link Stepney Bank Stables Crowdfunder

So to work! Sara left me with a list of jobs to choose from. Not being averse to hard work we decided to walk up to the top stables to continue the cobble clearing that a few of us started a few weeks ago. When I say started, I should really say re-started, as it's one of those painting-the-forth-bridge type jobs that we and other volunteers have done before. For Max, who we were delighted to see back for his second task, this was a new experience, but despite having tweaked his back earlier today, he got stuck in with the rest of us. We had a slightly slow start as we couldn't find the hook-y scrape-y things (horse hoof cleaners) that we use to remove the muck between the cobbles, and our improvisation efforts were unsuccessful. Fortunately, Sara came to the rescue! We made up for lost time and I'm pretty sure you'll be able to see the difference in the before and after photos. In any case, with the horses supervising and Scout inspecting our work, there was no chance of us baling on the job!

On the subject of baling, Sara had one last task for us - moving a big hay bale from the yard into the barn. I decided at this point to heed the warning, too many cooks spoil the broth, and to stand back and take photos! The team made short work of the task and we were done! Thanks to Elliot, Aimee and Chris as well as Max for another productive GoodGym Stepney Bank Stables evening!

Check out the website for three, yes three tasks to get stuck into over the coming bank holiday weekend!

I promised this evening would be a satisfying one and it really came through with the goods!

It was a back-to-back task after also being at Stepney Bank Stables last week but we love to support them and this is one of our favourite jobs to do. It was great seeing Rob back for his second session tonight without the promise of a quad bike and cake like last week! Also interestingly tonight I was the only female GoodGymer at the session, and I don't think that has ever happened before!

It was a simple but satisfying job for us tonight as we were tasked with cobble cleaning at the top stable yard. Not the most glamorous of jobs and definitely a proper workout as you use tools and broomsticks to clear debris from deep between the cobbles. Hopefully you can see the difference in our photos- a member of staff stopped to praise our efforts too. This is one of those jobs that the regular staff and volunteers just don't get the time to complete and really makes a difference.

We finished off with some hill repeats tonight, a super workout to get legs moving, lower backs loosened off after the task and hearts pumping. Another great start to the week, and we even missed the worst of the rain.

Six years of GoodGym Newcastle!

In some ways this birthday milestone feels like it should be much higher, I don’t know about you but I struggle to remember a time before GoodGym was in my life. In other ways six years has gone by in the blink of an eye. Prior to tonight’s group session we had done 5092 good deeds, which given the monumental pause we had in the middle of this is pretty remarkable. Pats on all of the backs for this - 397 backs to be precise, as that’s how many people have done a good deed with us now. No wonder I struggle to remember names at times!

It was fitting that we were back to base for the session tonight for the first time in a few months to help our friends and hooved heroes at Stepney Bank Stables. It may have been the promise of drinks at The Ship Inn afterwards, but we also had a great attendance tonight when we were joined by nine people including one for the first time. We did a quick catch up on the weekend’s session that was a very last minute mulch request from our friends at EarthWatch, and brought Tom back from honeymoon with a bang! We loved welcoming Rob to his first ever session with us tonight and while it wasn’t a standard group run we hope it was a suitable initiation to the group.

Stepney Bank stables is a charity and community out project that works with young people to improve wellbeing through working with horses, and we are really proud to be able to help them regularly including for tonight’s session. A banquet of jobs is always on order and tonight was no different as we were sweeping and clearing in the arena, vacuuming the entrance, sweeping the outdoor ramp, chopping back nettles and collecting sticky weeds as a special foodie treat for the horses- this one came complete with feeding! To finish off, Rob got the best ever job for a GoodGym debutant - riding the quad to sweep the arena floor! Lucky or what?!

It was a shorter task this evening as we were eager to head over to The Ship Inn for celebratory birthday drinks and a superb homemade cake from Anna. Big thanks also to GoodGym HQ for sending us a crate of Athletic Brewing Company beers for the session- Tom had cracked his open before we’d even left the stables! It was so great to see Tanya and Debbie at the pub too who had come across in time after work.

Pints were drank, cake was slapped into open palms (no, really), a great end to a good start to the week.

As yet we don’t have a task for next Monday (sob!) so please send one my way if you know of a charity that could use our help. To ensure a GoodGym fix, there is a junior parkrun opportunity at Mowbray Juniors this Sunday so do help out if you can.

Thanks once again to everyone who’s been part of GoodGym Newcastle especially those run leaders and task force who help me to keep the cogs turning. You’re all brilliant.