There was lots going on at GoodGym Newcastle tonight. Former Area Activator Anji made a special guest appearance, only her third time returning since having screws inserted in her wrist after an accident. Possibly not ideal to be scraping paint off walls, but Anji scraped as much off as anyone else. Welcome back!

We also welcomed first time GoodGymer and student Muhannad. Not all of our tasks are quite so dusty. We hope to you again soon!

We also had a belated celebration of Aimee's 400th good deed, which involved meeting and stroking Ginny the horse. 400 good deeds is an awful lot of volunteering, with a lot of good done for the local community.

Before all of this, we went for a short run to show our support for This Girl Can's Let's Lift the Curfew campaign. Let's make sure that Newcastle is a safe place for women and girls to exercise outdoors all year round.

Next up for GoodGym Newcastle is a gardening task with Newcastle Parks on Saturday in Iris Brickfield Park. Please come and join us if you can!

On the first day of autumn, three GoodGymers headed from Stepney Bank Stables towards the Quayside. We covered a slightly different area than usual, some of the streets and areas away from the river.

Welcome to Libby, making her GoodGym debut, and welcome back to Jack, joining us for the first time in a little while. An ankle injury and a two-hour run yesterday meant we focused more on the doing good than getting fit this evening.

Libby spotted an enormous quantity of L'Oréal and Garnier sachets hidden behind a bush next to a car park. Her estimate of 2,000 probably wasn't far wrong. Everyone was extremely dedicated this evening, so we picked them all up and deposited them in a nearby bin. Twelve bags of litter were filled in all, definitely making a difference to how the area looks.

This morning’s visit to Magret’s allotment marked a small but satisfying milestone—we finally finished clearing her plot! And just in time, too, as the sun seemed determined to melt us. Thankfully, our trusty new wheelbarrow made light(er) work of hauling weeds and trimmings, even if we were dripping by the end.

It was lovely to see that Magret has already started planting in the areas we cleared on earlier visits. Check out the photos —it’s always rewarding to know the effort is paying off.

As we dug, pulled, and sweated it out, we uncovered a surprising shared memory: Debs and I discovered we’d spent time in Jack’s hometown. That gave us a lovely excuse to pause and reminisce about Chocfest, Miss B’s charming tea rooms, and the irresistible cakes at the community café in the country park. Nothing like a little nostalgia to take your mind off the heat!

Midway through the session, Magret dropped by with Sue to chat. It was heartwarming to hear how much she’s enjoying having access to the plot—it’s clear it means a lot to her, and that’s what makes these sessions so worthwhile.

After what must be six—or maybe seven—visits, we’ve finally cleared the full length of her plot. But the job’s not quite over yet. There are still more plots in need of attention and Sue has plans to strim and mow them in preparation… and so, spades at the ready—until next time!

Three GoodGymers litter picked in the Ouseburn valley on a spring evening. The plan had been to go litter pick down towards the quayside but when we picked up the litter pickers from Stepney Bank Stables Sara informed us that there had been a market in the Ouseburn at the weekend which had been great for the area but resulted in a lot of litter. So we set off up the valley found plenty of cans, drink cups and a lot of newspapers some of which had been frustratingly ripped into little pieces! It was very satisfying clearing up the area post market and we really felt like we made a difference.