It was a little rainy for our task tonight but since most of us had been caught in never-before-seen-in-this-country levels of torrential rain yesterday, whether as runners or supporters at the Great North Run, it was like water off a duck's back!

It was great to welcome back Matt and Alfie to their second tasks - I think that makes them regulars now!

We had a short stroll into the Ouseburn Valley to meet task owner Dave from the Ouseburn Trust and his colleague Chris. The Ouseburn Valley is a buzzing green space on the edge of the city and it's a favourite task of ours to help keep the space safe, accessible and looking good for people passing through. As always, Dave was ready for us with two tasks and the tools to complete them. The valley didn't escape the effects of the storms yesterday and mud had been swept onto some paths and steps, making them slippery. Michael, Matt and Alfie got to work with Dave, using shovels and brooms to clear the mud, making the paths and steps much safer. Meanwhile, Aimee, Elliot, Dan, Chris and I got to work with loppers, cutting back some overgrown hedges, including some rather vicious brambles, which have the ability to penetrate gloves, sleeves and leggings! Check out the photos of beautifully clear paths!

At this point we should address the elephant in the room! We were joined tonight by a BBC film crew making a piece for the Morning Live program on the theme of Running for Good. It was great to be able to talk about what a fantastic organisation GoodGym is and the different ways we can use fitness sessions to benefit the community, and vice versa, to use volunteering to help motivate us to keep fit. Hopefully it'll lead to a few new members joining us. Coming to a TV screen near you very soon!

We have a busy weekend coming up with Urban Green tasks on Saturday and Sunday, quickly followed by a litter pick in the Ouseburn Valley in Monday - at least we know the paths will be clear for that one - unless the storms come back! Check out the website to sign up!

(Kudos to Dan for pun and pics!)

Shock, horror, another wet day in Newcastle! Rain can’t stop play and thankfully we were heading off to an indoor task this evening anyway. Up through Walker and into Byker the running group went led by Paul who was leading for the first time in a few months. I walked then we met Louise at the task.

We have been helping Recyke Y Bike since the very early days of GGNCL and every time is different, but tonight will be one of the memorable ones. We’d been drafted (pun intended, obvs) to help to organise donations of games and books that will be used in the Bike, Book Swap that’s taking place over the summer in and around Byker. This will give local families access to a brilliant toy, book and game exchange that comes to their doorstep for free. Louise did a double good deed tonight as she came to the session AND brought a big donation of games- many of which Elliot and Maddy wistfully looked at and wanted to play!

When the sorting was done, we completed a variety of other jobs that are small tasks that make a big difference including sweeping the workshop floors, moving bikes and helping to fold the big gazebo cover! The task owner Vanessa was really grateful that we’d done so many things to help. We are back at the end of August with a bike cleaning task which will be loads of fun.

Please please get involved this Wednesday with our leaflet drop for FoodCycle. Numbers are low and Lucy could really do with some extra hands on this one! NB: This will now start at the earlier time of 5pm.

We are back next Monday for a session with a twist- meet us for a walk and a drink for the summer social.

Firstly, a big shout-out to Antonellawho joined her first GoodGym session this evening - it was great to meet you Antonella - we hope to see you again soon!

If you've been out and about in Newcastle in recent days you might have spotted some Shaun the Sheep sculptures lurking around! These are part of the St Oswald's Hospice ewe-nique fundraising campaign and we were delighted to spot some of them during our session tonight. I thought it might be nicer to see some pics of the colourful creatures rather than the litter we were collecting!

To business! We started with a warm up in the Stepney Bank Stables car park. Charlotte kept us all safe by watching out for traffic while we had a jog around interspersed with a few star-jumps, skips and side-skips. I thoroughly enjoyed being in charge of Dan's whistle, which he warned me was the most powerful whistle in the world!

A gentle downhill jog through the lovely Ouseburn (Ewes-burn?!) Valley (with Charlotte cycling) to the Quayside where we collected seven bags of litter. It was great to hear about Aimee's mad dash to Glasgow for her Q parkrun, ready to go for her Z in Poland soon to complete her alphabet of parkruns! We also took the opportunity to pose for a photo with the Tyne Bridge in the background, looking resplendent with the Great North Run sign on display! (Good luck to Beth running it as her first half marathon!)

Back to the Cycle Hub for a fitness session. Tonight we went for a strength session just to show it's possible to do strength training with no equipment whatsoever! A circuit of squats, lunges, press ups and dips with a back-drop of the Tyne - what's not to love? We debated how many circuits to do and I think Elliot was definitely right when he said three sounds better than two! Three circuits it was then!

Back to the stables to finish with a last push up the sheep hill to the car park (see what i did there?!) A great finish to a great evening!