In eight years of GoodGym Newcastle we have used wheelbarrows before, but (correct me if anyone knows better) I don't think we have moved mountains of sand with them. Tonight's task was to move the sand from Stepney Bank Stables' bottom yard up to their outdoor arena, to be used to create enrichment activities for the horses.

Stepney Bank is an actual bank with some decent inclines, as is Stepney Road, which leads up to the outdoor arena. With some encouragement from some slightly tipsy pub goers, five trips involving ten wheelbarrows full of sand were made. The tyres in the centre of the outdoor arena took quite a lot of filling, but we got there in the end. Given the highly physical nature of the task, this was a unique Monday with no run offered. This proved to be a good decision as we had a later than usual finish in order to complete the task. Many calories were burned by all involved.

The final throws of the task were distracted by a game of cat and mouse with an actual cat and mouse. After a lengthy chase in the dark, it wasn't a happy ending for the mouse. Hopefully the horses fare better with their enrichment activities.

On a very pleasant Sunday, three GoodGymers cleared most of a plot at Greenhill Allotments. The upcoming end of the financial year, and the allotment rental year, has seen plots vacated. GoodGym Newcastle was asked to help make the plots look a bit more desirable for potential new tenants.

As ever, gregarious task owner Sue met us at the allotments to describe what needed doing. We had some challenging visits to Greenhill Allotments last summer when it had been very dry, meaning the ground was extremely hard. This time the garden tools broke the ground much more easily and allowed us to get quite a lot done.

We'll be back at Greenhill Allotments in three weeks, please join us if you can!

I was the run director at whitley bay junior parkrun on a very windy mother's day! The young runner weren't put of my the strong winds with a quarter of the young runners achieved a person best! A great time was had by all!

On a pleasant Monday evening, three GoodGym litter pickers headed out up Stepney Bank towards New Bridge Street. It's not an area we have litter picked in often and it was certainly needed. The main road into the city centre from Byker, New Bridge Street had mountains of litter, particularly around its bus stops. It's hard to understand how it ends up like this as there are numerous bins around the bus stops.

We had several people stopping to thank us and asking what GoodGym was. We did our best to explain and told people to look us up. If you were one of those people and are reading this, please sign up and come join us on a Monday night soon!

Today, Liz, Aimee and I met at Byker morrisons for the annual daffodil appeal. This happens every year in the early spring to help raise funds for the Marie Curie charity.

I was met with the lovely Pam, who kindly gave me the daffodils and collected them at the end of the session. Pam is a wonderful Marie curie volunteer who travels the North East raising funds for the charity.

It was a lovely day.

We will be back next year.

What did you do with your Sunday?

We always love a Monday night at Stepney Bank Stables.

Lloyd was meeting the resident horses for the first time and Aimee for about the fiftieth time but the novelty never wears off! Lloyd almost got mugged in the dark by one of the horses trying to steal the hay he was carrying!

Due to the amount of rain that had fallen, the hay at the bottom yard had gotten wet, so we had to move some from the top yard. After we had done that, we did a little digging around the edges of the arena. Quite a physical task tonight but as enjoyable as ever! Thank you to Sara for inviting us along to help.