On a very pleasant Monday evening, we arrived at Newcastle University Students' Union to be met by Natalia. She was there to help us write letters, cards and postcards to unwell children, a quite unusual task for GoodGym Newcastle.

We were joined for the first time by Yining, from Shanghai, by Juan, from Málaga and by Lide, from Northern Spain. Thank you very much for coming along!

Best wishes to Joanna after the loss of her cat and good luck to Scott for this week's house move.

We used lots of craft materials, cards, postcards and a wide array of pens and pencils to send some positive messages to children not in the best of health. We hope our cards and letters cheer them up!

Please join us next week at Stepney Bank Stables!

Ten GoodGymers paid a visit to Jesmond Library to rid the exterior of weeds, moss and other detritus. It was great to return to a place we haven't volunteered at for over seven years.

Some of the group either got delayed or live near the library, but for everyone else we enjoyed a 1.6 mile, or 2.6 kilometre if you prefer, run from Stepney Bank Stables. The outbound run was largely uphill, so we were looking forward to having an easier run on the way back.

Welcome to Ruth, completing her first GoodGym good deed, despite being aware of us for ten years! We hope you don't deliberate over your second visit for quite so long.

Welcome back to Anthony for the first time in a while, to Max on your first Monday group run in a while, to Joanna and Elena coming back after their first GoodGym Newcastle session last week and to Zachary for joining us at GoodGym Newcastle for the first time.

We worked hard removing weeds and soil from between the cobbles, cutting back some overgrown areas and tidying up some planters. The before and after photographs show quite a difference!

We're back at The Lighthouse Project next week for a bit more gardening. Please join us if you can!

We greeted two newcomers to GoodGym Newcastle tonight. Welcome to Elena, not new to GoodGym but joining us in Newcastle for the first time. We're very glad that you made it just in time! Another warm welcome to Joanna, completing her first GoodGym good deed tonight. Hopefully the first of many! We hope to see you in your red GoodGym t-shirt soon!

Tonight's task was to visit The Lighthouse Project to clear some weeds from their garden. The level of effort from everyone tonight was very impressive and at least eight large bags were filled with weeds. Task owner Jo and the other staff seemed pleased with our efforts!

We'll be back at The Lighthouse Project in two weeks. Next Monday sees us volunteering at Jesmond Library for the first time in seven years. Please join us if you can!