Welcome Anjali to your first goodgym mission.

Anjali and I got to work on sorting the riding boots, Anna sorted the riding hats and Scott, Aimee and Max sorted the riding lanes.

We all came together at the end to sweep the stable paths.

During tonights photography shoot, a hat was temporarily stolen. The hat was soon retrieved directly from the culprit.

Photo credits go to Aimee and Anna.

Have a good week everyone!

Me and Adam had a valentines volenteering date with Big Local Gateshead, at their community allotment at Sandown allotment.

The community allotment is used by many different groups of people from school children to adult volunteers and over 55s, for the mental health benefits of gardening, growing plants and being outside. Over time the paths had become covered in weeds and less accessible so our task was to skim off the top layer ready for it to be resurfaced to be more wheelchair accessible.

Along with Big Local regulars we were digging out the top layer of the old path and putting it into wheelbarrows and once the skip was delivered lifting and tipping wheelbarrows contents into the skip.

While we worked we learnt about the work the Big Local do and herb hub and how they are growing herbs for good mental health. There was also plenty of tea/coffee, biscuits and fruit and even some lunch!

It was great seeing the difference we had made in two hours! If you are interested in helping out we are back to continue helping Big Local with their path resurfacing project next Thursday!

We were at Newcastle University Students Union for their volunteering week, unfortunately we didn't have any student volunteers but we still had a good time. We were helping with some admin tasks for North East Solidarity and Teaching (N.E.S.T) a student led project at Newcastle University Students Union, which the refugee and asylum-seeking community in the region through a variety of formats one of which is going into school and helping with English.

The weather outside was miserable and cold so it was nice to have an indoor task! I started off folding some leaflets, while Lucy stables out other leaflets and Scottgot stuck in with using the guillotine cutter to cut words which had been printed out to be used within schools. Once we had finished our tasks me and Lucy also joined in with cutting and putting the word cards in the laminator pouches which were then feed through the laminator.

While we worked we had some nice conversations about the difficulties of the English language, spelling, proof reading and how hard it is to remember the correct time to use affect or effect!

Finally the end of the January litter picking relay is upon us! After a month of daily litter picks from the Newcastle GoodGymers it was was my pleasure to finish it off! I also finished off my personal challenge to clean up my local SuDS (Substanible Drainage Solution).

This session was all about picking litter out of the water. I was prepared with my wellies and waded into the shallow water! I did nearly over balance and slip in at one point but made it out with only mudly wellies.

All the litter was very wet so the bags were heavy and it was slow going picking the litter out of the water but I get out the most I could in my lunch hour. Really happy to make my little corner of the world a little bit better!

Tonight's task was a special one! Back to Stepney Bank Stables and our fabulous host had some great tasks for us including cleaning the bridles, grooming and massaging the horses, preparing snacks for their supper and giving their home an early spring clean. Pampered ponies - you wouldn't get a better, more relaxing, spa experience at a Champneys!

We had 3 new people tonight - Weronika, Iline and Elena joined us for their first ever mission and Tom made the switch from Greenwich to Newcastle, joining us for his first Toon-based task! It was great to welcome so many new people.

Special shout out to Tom, Jack and David who got themselves ready for their close up with ITV news who were filming us tonight - fingers crossed our fellas get their 15 minutes!

Lunch time litter pick 4 (hopefully out of 5) of cleaning my local SuDS (Substanible Drainage Solution).

This week now that the water is no longer frozen and icey I made a start on picking litter out of the shallow water. I managed to pick up some big bits of tarp and plastic and a couple of signs. But it was also frustrating because I couldn't reach that far into the water so no section ever truely felt finished for an after picture. The storm had alway blown a few extra bits of litter onto areas I already done as well. But despite the frustrations I managed to fill two big bags and feel like I made a difference.

The most interesting find was a Newcastle United football which (sorry Sunderland fans) I didn't throw away and just felt on the grass at the top so hopefully it will be reunited with its rightful owner.

Carrying the bin bags home was work out, as most of the rubbish was wet which made the bugs super heavy, but it was also very satisfying! I think the end is in sight and one more litter pick I will consider this area 'finished'.

I really enjoy have a reason to get outside on my lunch break. Today I saw a flock of cute birds, which I think were goldfinch, on the wagon and that made me smile!

Five GoodGymers helped with the phase two of the carpark project at Sandown Allotment on a sunny Saturday morning.

Last year we helped Sandown Allotment to level one side of their carpark to put in woodchips and planters. This year we were back to work on the other side of the carpark which they are also trying to level to hopefully put up a structure on it for them to have a dry space to host community events and share the vegetables grown there.

As task owner Corretta showed us the area which would need clearing we were all struck with a feeling of 'how will we even make a dent in this mammoth task?' Not being defended by a good challenge we chose an area to focus on and all got stuck in to do as much as possible in the 2 hours we had. We started by moving a small pile of rocks out of the way to allow easier access and Chris made the neatest rock pile I have ever seen. Then Lucy and Anna starting clearing sticks and branches from the top and me, Max and Chris started digging.

There was alot of discoveries in our digging. Anna found two seperate parts of what looked like a small fancy table and was very satisfied to put them back together but we never found the top. Lucy found a rush latch and Chris managed to dig out some sort of oil can. Conversation turned to The Traitors, with Lucy declaring she could never be a traitor, and then suspiciously vanishing!

We had a nice tea break around midday. We sat on a picnic bench near the other side of the carpark which we worked on previously. There was tea or coffee and a selection of biscuits, chocolates and sweet treats.

Anna casually dropped in that she is running a half marathon tomorrow! Good luck Anna! What a way to warm up with a whole lot of digging!

Just like last year, when we did the other side of the carpark, the before and after pictures just don't do it justice, see other pictures for the amount of soil we dug out, the hug pile of rocks excavate and the weird buried finds. We felt like my made a huge difference in two hours!