Sunday 15th Dec saw 5 Goodgymers head out into the wooded depths of Gedling Country Park with a small army of volunteers to help finish their 2024 tree planting programme. Hannah and Nigel were joined by debutants Diana and Theo and Emma who we have been fortunate to acquire from our colleagues in Newcastle. We started with a highly informative talk from the local naturalist who explained, amongst other things that the Purging Buckthorn we are planting was butterfly friendly but poisonous to humans. Fortunately tea and cakes were laid on at the end of the mission so no one was tempted to have a chew. First job was to plant beech saplings in the corner of the cow field - no need for any artificial fertiliser in that space. We were then asked to spread out and venture into the woods, find a small clearing and plant out the remaining beech trees. When we returned to the path Diana and Theo were missing - the Park is nearly 600 acres so we started to get concerned and were just asking the Duke of Edinburgh candidates if they had done their search and rescue training yet when our two latest recruits appeared, safe and sound. Onwards to the butterfly meadow to plant out the aforementioned Purging Buckthorn in the hope that next summer Brimstone Butterfly will return to the park.

Thank you to the regular volunteers and trustees who made us very welcome and invited us back any Sunday to support their impressive and valuable work.

It's the end of an era! Today a superb task owner led his final community mission with GoodGym and what a task it was!

A big group of us gathered in St Lawrence Park in Byker, the group including many regular faces and a few we were welcoming back- hey Emma and Charlotte ! There was also a triple celebration going on today as both Tanya and Damu celebrated 100 good deeds and gained their wings, while Sam gained the cloak of goodness for her 50 milestone. Give them all a cheer for so many days of dedication to GoodGym!

Mike has orchestrated and led over 100 sessions for us and they are always a real treat in hidden gems of parks. There was a lot of reminiscing today about tasks gone by (if you don't know about the rocks in Kenton Park, ask anyone there that day as it's forever etched in memories!) and there were so many great days to reflect on as we've worked with Urban Green Newcastle to make our city parks safer places to be. Today's mammoth hedge cutting task was another example of how we can work together to do a big job in a short space of time. The before and after is quite astounding!

Mike's tasks always end with tea and biscuits but today it was with a twist as we had Louise and Sam's amazing baking, as well as no-alcohol prosecco to toast with. We also gave Mike his very own GoodGym tshirt to remember us by... he has certainly earned it.

Good luck and thank you Mike, we will really miss you.

Myself, Lucy, Aimee and Emma had a lovely morning helping out at Saltwell junior parkrun, as part of the NHS 75th celebrations.

Aimee and Emma were barcode scanning, Lucy was tailwalker and I was funnel manager.

It was just a really nice morning, very relaxed and brilliant to see so many people in the park. We had over 100 juniors finishing which was fantastic.

Congratulations to Aimee for her 25th time volunteering at parkrun!

Join us tomorrow evening for a leaflet drop in Heaton and next Sunday, helping out at North Marine junior parkrun in South Shields!