A big group for a satisfying task, clear skies and loads of GoodGym goodness at Leazes Park tonight.

A perfectly autumnal evening awaited a group of eight GoodGymers assembled to help the brilliant We Do Tennis, the organisation that has been giving our city tennis courts much-needed make overs. These fab facilities can now be accessed for free and it was lovely to see them in use when we arrived tonight. With Damu and Tom running, everyone else walked and met Malcolm from Urban Green who was along to support the task and bring all the equipment we needed. It was also the first outing of our portable floodlights in quite a long time!

The tasks tonight needed a lot of muscle as we were given the job of weeding the entire perimeter of the tennis courts, clearing them of leaves as we went. There was some musical accompaniment as groups in the basketball courts had brought along speakers, which added even more atmosphere to a fun task. With the darkness creeping in we finished under the light of head torches which again felt really special. It’s hard to get before and after photos by floodlight so you’ll have to take our word for it that this was a huge transformation.

We ran out of time for a fitness session tonight, instead finishing off by helping Malcolm to return the tools back to the store, under the shadow of floodlights it was a Blair Witch Project-esque end to the night… but don’t worry, we all survived.

There’s another We Do Tennis helping this Saturday at Nuns Moor Park if you can come along and help, we'd love to see you.

It was a beautiful autumn morning in Newcastle today and the lovely secluded garden of the West End Refugee Service (WERS) wasn’t a bad place to spend it. Catriona, Adam and Scott had begun the job of clearing the overgrown beds a few weeks ago so with Aimee and I joining in we were able to quickly get going and continue the task.

Ivy was definitely our nemesis today! Although the lovely task owner Alison was keen to keep a covering across the fence to maintain privacy, it had definitely invaded beyond its welcome! With a combination of shears, secateurs and brute force we cleared four bin bags of it away. Adam in particular clearly hadn’t burned enough energy at parkrun earlier so he took on the challenge of clearing a tree trunk of the pervasive creeper. I suspect that the tree will be breathing easier this afternoon!

A last run over with the rake really highlighted the difference we had made in not much more than an hour. There’s more to be done in the garden so ivy feeling we’ll be back - there are WERS places to be!