This morning I took part in Walker Wasters weekly litter pick at Walker Park. A small group of volunteers, with Urban Green in attendance, collected a bike, gas canister and 8 bags of mixed litter, not forgetting the weekly green poop bags that seem to be placed in position. A lovely crisp, fresh morning and a good start to the day.

Many muddy hands made light(er) work at this tree-licious task with Chloe, Michael and Rhian from Urban Green Newcastle at Harbottle Park in Byker.

Six GoodGymmers made their way to find a forest on a frosty morning, including a new face (to some!) with Adrian joining us for his first good deed!

There was mulch to do as we cleared the overgrown grass from around the flourishing forest and gave them a little donut of mulch to be getting on with. Barrows-a-plenty amongst muddy knees and hidden trees.

Harbottle Park is a fantastic area and it’s great to see space used in this way, creating some biodiversity for nature to nurture.

There was tea, coffee, mince pies and good vibes as the gang had a well-earned break, before one last go at helping this forest to grow.

Honoured that this was my first task as TaskForce leader! I couldn’t help but recognise the gang’s efforts with a little cash in hand - strictly edible, of course.

Can’t wait for the next one and hope you’ll all join me!

A beatiuful morning to run, walk and cycle our way around Gateshead and Newcastle quayside, finishing with coffee at the Cycle Hub where we watched some kayakers litter picking in the Tyne.

Huge welcome to James for his first session with us.

We were happy to be returning to Byker Lodge adult resource centre tonight, after some of us made a start tidying up the garden last week.

Having joined in with the task last week, Angela was well aware of what was in store for us this week, so she met us there, armed with a whole set of gardening tools, which proved essential. Max, Adam and I met at Stepney Bank Stables. We stood for a few minutes watching the rain and debating the pros (few, if any) and cons (lots) of wallpaper! By the time we finished and gave Max some tips on how to remove it, the rain had almost stopped so we ventured out on the one mile mostly uphill run to Byker Lodge. Angela and her tools had beaten us to it so we got straight to work!

Angela and Max did a great job of clearing the overgrown grass from the edge of a bed - the brick edging had been completely covered and it looked amazing when they were finished. What a transformation!

Meanwhile, Adam limbered up, leaped into action and lopped a load of looping ivy to make the paths and seating area more accessible. Great job!

I spent another GoodGym session on my knees weeding, also clearing edges, this time along the wall beside the path. I sense another few days of post-GoodGym back ache coming - but well worth it!

We spent the last few minutes sweeping and tidying up (it turns out that shiny ivy leaves don't like being swept away!) I think it's fair to say we were satisfied with our efforts - we hope that the staff and residents at Byker Lodge are happy with their newly revealed edges too!

It’s been ages since we helped out at Byker Lodge so I was really happy to get the call a few weeks back to come and help with some gardening in their lovely outdoor space. It was a great warm evening for such capers, unlike when we tried to help at Connie on Saturday and plans were scuppered by heavy rain. The great British summer, eh?

A warm welcome awaited runners and walkers this evening, with Damu leading the way. Byker Lodge is a brilliant facility offering support to adults in the area and just the type of task we like was waiting for us. We were tasked with edging the paths (always a very satisfying workout!) and digging out some weeds which Scott had already got cracking with, with gusto before the walkers even arrived. It was a brilliant session with everyone really stuck in- in fact I didn’t think we were going to get the shovel out of Max’s hands when it was time to go! I hope you can see the differences in the photos from tonight.

The task owner Scott was so grateful for the effort we put in and delighted that we could fit in a part two to go back next week. It would be great to get a big turn out and finish the transformation! We felt really appreciated tonight as a tray of snacks had been left out for us finishing up.

There are two more ways to do good and feel great this week as we support two new tiny forests in our patch. Drop in on Tuesday in Fawden between 4-6 or at the same time on Wednesday in Westerhope.