As Anji (GG Area Activator) or my Dad would tell you, I can definitely be a fair weather GoodGymer but I actually really loved this morning!

This time of year can feel quite dull especially with the dark mornings and rubbish weather. So even though it was tipping it down with rain, I decided to get out on my bike and cycle across to the allotments at Bill Quay.

I met the task owner Bryony from North East Wilds who was absolutely lovely and so welcoming, along with her dog Charlie.

I was then met by Lucy and Amy. A HUGE congratulations to Lucy for reaching a fantastic fifty good deeds!

The allotment is used by a lot of different groups in the community. The job that we decided to get involved with was clearing an area of wooden posts which were rotten and untidy.

We got stuck in with lots of digging and teamwork with pulling the wooden posts out of the ground. It was hard work but very satisfying as you can see in the photos!

We were all very muddy and wet by the end of it, but it was such a good feeling that we were able to help.

We had a really lovely evening on Wednesday helping the Ouseburn Trust.

This is always a great task and one of our favourites, as Dave the task owner is so organised and enthusiastic!

I was joined by Lucy, Amy and Anthony. I cycled down to the Cycle hub, where myself, Lucy and Anthony then walked and we were met a bit later by Amy. It was great to leisurely walk along and chat/catch up.

We collected the equipment and then got stuck in straight away with clearing weeds and making an area (that I’d actually never seen before) much more tidier.

I found a tool that I absolutely loved (I can’t remember the name of it) but basically I was scraping away at the weeds which was so satisfying to do.

We definitely made a big difference. As always we got a bit carried away as it was such an enjoyable task, and I’m sure we could have stayed longer.

This was all in preparation for the Ouseburn festival taking place this weekend which definitely sounds like it is a worth a visit.

A treble weekend and a treble good-deed opp for Louise, Deb and Tanya. We are suitably impressed with your efforts!

After hot-footing it across from Saltwell Junior parkrun where we had helped out with a mini-takeover, Louise, Deb and Tanya met Paul, Jose, Amy and Dan ready to get stuck into a bunch of prickly and heavy jobs at new task location Hodgkin Park. The tasks we do with Urban Green are always firm favourites as brilliant task leaders Mike and Maddie have everything organised and proper physical tasks waiting.. as well as tea and biscuits - what's not to love?!

Regular GoodGymers will be relieved to see Dan back where he belongs with a wheelbarrow in his hands as he worked on clearing overgrown paths, collecting bricks and rebuilding a damaged wall with Paul, Amy and José.

"This feels a lot like Tetris!"

Close by, Deb Tanya and Louise were learning exactly what a pin cushion feels like as they got stuck into clearing brambles which were going to be transformed into goat feed! How very Goat-Gym of us.

Hundreds of squats later, Louise reflected that she might just feel it tomorrow.

"It's not like I am recovering from a marathon or anything!"

We are really grateful to spend mornings like these, making the places we love safer and better.

Check out all those photos.. what a difference!

We had a really lovely morning litter picking, helping Gateshead Council with their ongoing project to tidy up Riverside Park.

It was a brilliant turn out with myself, Louise, Tanya, Debbie, Amy, Eleanor and Anthony. We met near the Staithes Cafe (Dunston Staithes) and then had a wander along the cycle path through Riverside Park.

Clare the task owner, kindly provided us with bin bags, litter pickers and gloves

A huge well done to Anthony for his first ever GoodGym good deed!!

There was so much rubbish that we could have stayed for hours! We managed to collect 12 full bin bags of rubbish in a hour which is amazing.