It was one of those deceptively sunny days where as soon as you step out of the sun you step into a fridge for our visit to help at North Marine Junior parkrun in South Shields.

Let's get a huge round of applause for Aimee who completed her 50th parkrun volunteer today and earned herself the red V50 tshirt. The bulk of Aimee's volunteer points are at junior events so it was fitting that she earned this today.

We covered three roles at North Marine Juniors today: Paul and I timekeeping and Aimee marshalling. 52 brilliant kids ran, walked, skipped and hopped to the finish today and the finish line was the happiest place to be as always. A lovely blue sky start to Sunday all round.

What a fab GoodGym morning at Sandown Allotments today!

Four out of five of us had started the day with a parkrun, while Rae had run 5k to the task which definitely counts! Anna did a combo of both- running Jesmond Dene parkrun before running to the task. Kudos!

This cute community allotment first asked for our help a few months back with soil clearing as they work towards creating some planters for local people to look after and support their mental health. This was a perfect example of a super GoodGym task as we got stuck into a proper physical workout alongside a group of the allotments' regular volunteers. Forks and spades aplenty, countless wheelbarrow trips and a huge amount of satisfaction went into really giving this task some welly. Anna got so into this one that she managed to land bottom-first into some nettles- that girl doesn't know her own strength! With no dock leaves nearby she danced her way through the session like a trooper and handed us this perfect pun on a platter (Paul's work, not mine!).

Ninety minutes of digging were rewarded by the amazing task owners with a selection of homemade cakes, bakes, biscuits and hot drinks. Truly a morning well spent and one we would love to revisit again and again.

Despite the billing today being “big beginners session” we had no beginners and instead a group of five very experienced GoodGymers! Between us we have amassed 718 good deeds as of today so it was definitely not our first rodeo. It was a GoodGym Newcastle favourite on the cards today too- a brilliant link up with the lovely Ouseburn Trust. And today, something new, weeding and tree planting by Blenkinsop Coulson’s monument opposite Hotel Du Vin.

We arrived to a group of Ouseburn Trust volunteers already on it and clearing weeds with gusto. Brilliant task owner Dave started the session by telling us about Coulson’s monument and the work he had done for animal rights- what a good man! - you always take away interesting facts at these sessions, and I’m sure every time I pass the monument now I’ll remember that fact.

It was a beautiful blue sky day, perfect for the workout that was waiting- Debbie walked over a mile in wheelbarrow trips while I swept and litter picked til my arms ached and Tanya, Paul and Lucy got their back into weeding and planting some trees. We couldn’t believe how quickly the time passed and feeling our cups were full up with vitamin D we headed back to base, discussing our milestone GoodGym task moments over the years.

I’ll let Tanya reveal if she wishes how she made the end of this session dramatic one. For now, what happens at GoodGym stays at GoodGym.

A hastily rearranged task meant another litter pick for us this evening, and despite doing a lot of litter picking throughout January it was a good - and enthusiastic turn out this evening! What a lovely evening it was too- check out Charlotte's beautiful bridge photo.

It was a calm and clear night for our all-walking group run so we quickly caught up on a busy weekend- not realising til much later that we have also passed 5000 good deeds in the last week- how amazing is that?! Heading off downhill and towards the Quayside there wasn't a great deal to collect until our arrival to The Cycle Hub. The long car park fence is a trap for rubbish when it's been windy and in no time three bags were filled with bottles, cans, takeaway cartons and much more. It was a good chance to catch up on what everyone is up to- from moving house to holidays to the best way to take a selfie!

This was a hastily wrapped-up session as it was also a social night and straight on to The Ship Inn. A perfect way to start the week.

Finally I reached my 250th good deed milestone today with a little help from my friends!

Charlotte, Paul and I were parkwalking at South Shields parkrun on a beautiful seaside morning. We were joined by little Bruce whose human was RD today.

It was a lovely way to spend an hour and a great start to the weekend.