Some train mishaps and delays led to an absence of litter pickers, the inanimate not the human kind, for tonight's litter pick. Fortunately GoodGymers are nothing if not resourceful, so we improvised with some gloves, which Aimee thankfully had to hand, and the willingness to literally use our hands. Undeterred by the lack of mechanical assistance Scott and Richard managed to fill at least six bags with litter, while Aimee protected her aching back as designated bin bag carrier.

It was a successful evening in the end, with the added bonus of better than expected weather!

I was run director at whitley bay junior parkrun on one of the wettest Sundays in a while! 30 plus young runners braved the bad weather, many of them tourists! Full disclosure the picture is an old one as it was too wet and I was too busy to take any!

Four GoodGymers visited Jesmond Community Orchard on a very pleasant Sunday. The tasks ranged from weeding around the base of trees and watering a new hedge to digging out three well-entrenched fence posts.

This was GoodGym Newcastle's first visit to the orchard for almost six years. We certainly won't be waiting as long before returning!

Two goodgymers helped whitley bay junior parkrun on a sunny Sunday morning. I was tailwalker and Richard was a marshal. Nearly 200 young runner completed the parkrun! It's always lonely to see the young runners enjoying themselves!

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.