I went along to the Bike Garden this morning to assist the Greening Wingrove project/Friends of Nunsmoor Park with a litter pick.

For anyone who hasn't been before, Nunsmoor Park is a beautiful outdoor space in Newcastle. Within the park, is a hidden treasure/Community space called the Bike Garden.

I had got there a little early so I went for a wander around the park. It was warm as the Sun was shining, and so quiet which made it a lovely Monday morning.

I soon met one of the volunteers called Alison. Alison explained that the litter pick takes place every Monday morning.

Together we took out the equipment (a vast array of litter pickers, bin bags and gardening gloves)

We were soon met by all the regular volunteers, mainly people who lived nearby, who had also brought their young children along, so it was definitely one big team effort. The Community spirit felt brilliant.

We all split up in different directions. In the end I picked up so much rubbish, in various places, around the tennis courts, grassed areas and the playground.

We had all definitely made a big difference once we had regrouped with our rubbish.

I then stayed at the end to sit and talk with the the volunteers as we enjoyed a cup of tea and biscuits. I will definitely be joining in again soon!

Two GoodGymers helped out at Apple day at the bike garden. Apple day is a celebration of all things Apple related which takes place at the end of October when they are in abundance. There were stalls selling cakes, lots of apple related games and a lovely family atmosphere.

Scott's job was cutting up many apples before they could be shredded, presses and made into apple jucice. My job was on the apple of a string stall, a waterless alternative to bobbing for apples. It involved cutting holes in apples or half apples to make it easer and tying them on strings. Most children, but some keen adults, then tried to take a bite out of the apples without using their hands. Which is harder than it sounds as the apples are hard and moving around. Any child who managed it was rewarded with the apple/half apple and a super cute apple day 2024 badge.

We also bumped into GoodGymers Debbie and Tanya who where enjoying apple day. It was a really nice event to be a part of!

GoodGym Newcastle's first visit to the Bike Garden for a while was very productive. Richard did a lot of compost turning, as well as emptying several wheelbarrows of woodchip onto the top of the compost. Meanwhile Scott was dealing with lots of branches and pieces of wood.

Several of the the Bike Garden's regular volunteers were present as well, completing lots of other tasks and introducing us to a resident frog.

Welcome to Ross for his first ever Goodgym mission.

Today we helped out at Nuns moor park helping local volunteers to plant some tress and some shrubs.

It is so lovely to see Nuns moor park coming to life. The space is blooming now and I can't wait to see what it looks like in the next coming years.

A definite must is suncream for any future Goodgym missions.

Today Krishti and I helped out at the apple day at Nuns moor park. Krishti helped in the morning and I helped out in the afternoon.

The apple day is a family day event, where all are welcome. The whole day has a theme of apples .... even the delicious homemade soup has a hint of apple in it.

Krishti and I helped on the apple shy stand. I didn't know this until today .... To shy something can mean to throw something suddenly, often in a sideways movement. Both children and adults appeared to have fun knocking the apples off the plant pots on the apple shy stall.

Many had brought along their apples from their own gardens and gave them to the apple juice stall. Volunteers took it in turns to wash,chop and sort the apples. The apples were grated and then pressed and produced a lovely tasting apple juice. Nothing additional was added, just the juice of a variety of apples.

It was a really wholesome couple of hours. It was really joyous looking from afar at the whole event.

We will definitely be back next year to help out.

Myself and Aimee had a very satisfying morning helping out at Nunsmoor Park Volunteer Day!

Aimee had ran Leazes parkrun and I walked across from Gateshead. We met in the bike garden, which is a hidden secret garden/oasis of greenery and totally transformed since I was last there (see photos) with a cafe and pizza ovens.

Our task was to help clear weeds, soil and leaves from the tennis courts. This was a great work out, in between playing fetch with Mitsy (Jo, the task owner's dog).

We easily filled up the wheelbarrow and took it in turns to take it into the park and empty it in to a compost heap. Unfortunately the first wheelbarrow we were using got a flat tyre, but thankfully we had another one to use. We managed to fill up the wheelbarrow and empty it, a massive ten times!

I stayed behind to have a lovely latte and chat with Jo and another volunteer. Jo was very happy with our help and hopes that we can return to help out with their Apple Day on 22nd October (and if anyone has an apple tree, would be very greatful for any donations of apples!)