Tonight was our first session from the brilliant One Strawberry Lane base, and I think the group that came along were impressed! This central base is easy to find, comfy and cool and we think in the coming winter months will be a cosy place to catch up before our group sessions.

A small jog and walk up the road and we were welcomed by our task owner at WERS (west end refugee service) a charity doing amazing things to support the refugee community in our city. We’ve helped WERS before but not for five years (!) yet it felt really familiar being back. A simple task was requested: to start weeding their back garden space which will in time be turned into a welcoming space for their service users to hang out, chat and do some gardening of their own.

Small tasks like these are often where we can quickly make the biggest impact and in just half an hour, three bags of weeds had been removed and a huge space had opened up. The task owner was so impressed and started hatching a plan to have us back (with our floodlights!) as soon as we can. Look at those before and after photos!

A leisurely walk back together followed, but Mondays are made for high step counts and heart rates so we stopped off at St James’ Park for a step workout, much to the confusion of everyone passing by. Another perfect start to the week!

It's the end of an era! Today a superb task owner led his final community mission with GoodGym and what a task it was!

A big group of us gathered in St Lawrence Park in Byker, the group including many regular faces and a few we were welcoming back- hey Emma and Charlotte ! There was also a triple celebration going on today as both Tanya and Damu celebrated 100 good deeds and gained their wings, while Sam gained the cloak of goodness for her 50 milestone. Give them all a cheer for so many days of dedication to GoodGym!

Mike has orchestrated and led over 100 sessions for us and they are always a real treat in hidden gems of parks. There was a lot of reminiscing today about tasks gone by (if you don't know about the rocks in Kenton Park, ask anyone there that day as it's forever etched in memories!) and there were so many great days to reflect on as we've worked with Urban Green Newcastle to make our city parks safer places to be. Today's mammoth hedge cutting task was another example of how we can work together to do a big job in a short space of time. The before and after is quite astounding!

Mike's tasks always end with tea and biscuits but today it was with a twist as we had Louise and Sam's amazing baking, as well as no-alcohol prosecco to toast with. We also gave Mike his very own GoodGym tshirt to remember us by... he has certainly earned it.

Good luck and thank you Mike, we will really miss you.

It was the return of the leaflets tonight after a couple of weeks of doing other stuff. While digital media keeps on doing its thing you can’t ignore the value of the leaflet and tonight four GoodGymers set out in Byker to share the news of a bumper calendar of activities at Building Futures East for East End Women. The organisation was so happy about this one that they even gave us a mention on BBC radio Newcastle last week.

It was a male-heavy session tonight and I found myself outnumbered but definitely here for the girl power. I shared my dubious map-planning skills as the only walker, and the boys trooped off to run to a point in Byker and get cracking before meeting me (walking) there. Damu led the run for his 99th good deed and did it like a trooper despite a rubbish cold. He’s certainly earned those wings!

We had 250 leaflets and flyers to post tonight and with the maze-like streets ahead of us thanked the inventor of WhatsApp location share to make sure we met back up somewhere in the middle. Anyone who’s done a Byker drop knows it can get a little bit confusing.

Within just ten minutes I’d posted out my stash of leaflets and keen to help the boys I sent my request and found they were almost done too. I don’t know why after so many years of GoodGym I continue to underestimate the speed of our leaflet skills. Wandering back to the meeting point a member of the public kindly asked me if I was ok- I must have looked a bit lost! It’s moments of simple human kindness that I really love and I was really grateful for her checking.

Meeting back up it was time for the fitness session and return of the ladders. It’s been ages since I cracked the ladders out and it was as fun as ever seeing everyone display their ability and balance skills and give it a real go.

This Saturday we are celebrating a superb task owner in our Urban Green Newcastle task at St Lawrence Park. There will be cake! Come and say thanks to a legend as he retires and do good stuff at the same time. You can sign up here.