On Eagles' Wings

Stand by, we have a Centurion, this is huge!

Tonight we crowned our very first GoodGym Newcastle 100, with Andrew reaching his 100th Good Deed and therefore being the first person ever to wear the expertly stitched Golden Wings of Goodness. Andrew's favourite tasks have been helping out Henpower, and lending a hand at Northern Pride where he "couldn't believe he had so much power"!

(Thanks Paul for being the creative genius behind the wings!)

Andrew is a valued member of GoodGym Newcastle and a superb leader within our task force, being responsible for many of our Community Missions especially those with Newcastle Parks. What's most impressive is the amazing transformation Andrew has been through on a personal level since coming to GoodGym Newcastle, which you can read all about here. Thank you Andrew for all you give to GoodGym, week in and week out.

We caught up on a weekend well-spent at three Community Missions including a parkrun takeover for Leazes parkrun, our regular Nunsmoor Park Monthly Mission and a rare afternoon mission at Elswick Park , racking up a huge 19 good deeds over two days. Well done to everyone who lent a hand once, twice or three times! There was also a moment's applause tonight in memory and respect of true GoodGym hero Sean Coxhead, who has inspired us over the last year.

Our task tonight was a new one for us, as we helped out at the fantastic new Newcastle Eagles Community Arena in their community gardens. We were really honoured to be asked to help at this task. Task owner Neil explained tonight that the weeding we started tonight and will continue in Group Runs to come will save the Eagles charity over £800, so not only are we making a difference to how the gardens look but we are saving them a huge pot of cash, too. It was brilliant having GoodGym Yorkie Katie along to grab her Scout badge and get stuck into a Geordie GG Group Run.

Paul led the run while I hobbled over with Faye, and by the time we arrived everyone was already getting stuck in, weeding and clearing in snazzy new high vis and looking important with wheelbarrows- I'm looking at you, Dan. With much bending, stretching and wheelbarrow-ing, it was a real full-body workout and the time flew by. We had a brilliant area to do the fitness session in so we rounded off the night with a series of running drills to activate hamstrings, glutes and calfs whilst looking awesome and not at all silly. Our fast finishers were shuttle runs and ladder drills and that was quite enough for Monday.

It's a Great Big Great North Run weekend in Newcastle this weekend and we so excited to be hosting a few things that are running, volunteering and cheering based! Help out at the Junior GNR on Saturday giving out medals and tshirts to running heroes of the future in our Community Mission for Heel and Toe Charity. If you're looking for something a little more laid-back, there's also a Community Mission at St Lawrence Park happening at the same time.. tea and biscuits guaranteed!

There's another Newcastle Parks Community Mission on Sunday too, which you can find out about and sign up here if you need an escape from Great North Run madness! On to the big day itself, we know many of you are running so GOOD LUCK, ENJOY THE BEST RUNNING DAY OF THE YEAR! We have a cheer station led by Charlotte, just outside Gateshead Stadium, so KEEP LEFT to give her a wave just before the 5K point. You can come along to cheer with her from 9:30am, all the info for that is Here. And on the evening, recover from all the running and cheering at our very own reserved area at Brewdog Newcastle for the Post GNR pizza and patter night.

Have a brilliant week doing great things.

Anji x