A ribbit of weeding goes a herby long way

27 Goodgymers helped their local community in Newcastle
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Newcastle

Monday 29th July 2019

Report written by Anji Andrews (she/her)

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Woah! What a turn out for our monthly visit to Elliott House for Changing Lives. We have been lending a hand to this amazing home for vulnerable men in our city for the past few months, and tonight I think we got more done than ever!

There was once again a million things to catch up on, from some epic performances at a very hot and hilly Durham City Run, to Evan's victory at parkrun, to the GoodGym York camping weekend and not forgetting three fantastic Community Missions that took place over the weekend.

You can catch up on them here: Paul's solo mission to Nunsmoor A very wet one at St Lawrence Park And a duo effort at Harbottle Park

Big Kudos to Paul for ignoring the terrible weather and doing the double this weekend. Go and give that man a big cheer! Don't forget we are always looking for more Task Force members to source and lead new Community Missions, and if you've done 10 Good Deeds you are eligible to join the Task Force. Just look for the link on your dashboard.

We were impressed to see Andrew along with a very dramatic bandage on his poorly arm and a very bashed up knee after coming off his bike at the GG York camping weekend. What a trooper! It was amazing that we had three new runners long tonight too as well as welcoming back a few familiar faces we haven't seen in a while in Faye, Jon and Amy who is usually only available for weekend missions. We got warmed up with a brain twisting game of exercise, shouting out food and delivering harsh punishments to those who ended up 'out', then up the hill to Changing Lives we went.

We were met by Alice who had a big area ready for us to clear and weed and straight to work we went. A few of the residents popped out to thank us.

It's brilliant that this is your gym!

Lots of superb digging went on around some beautiful smelling herbs and thankfully there were no medical emergencies this week- although we were very careful to keep Louise away from the Insect Hotel after last week! Evan managed to find a frog which was quickly named Kevin and rescued to a safer area of the garden. Thankfully this whole incident was kept away from my sight as for some weird reason I am terrified of frogs.

You can hopefully tell from our Before and After photos that we made a big difference tonight, a job we will get finished at our next visit in a few weeks' time.

Katy led a fantastic fitness session tonight where a baton was passed around a circle, with runners on the outside chasing their way back while everyone else did a series of exercises. Check out the great photos of the session in Summerhill Park- the perfect summer's night!

I want to say a massive HIP HIP HOORAY and bye bye to GG NCL original Amy who is heading off to London to start her new job next week. We hope to have you back as a tourist in the future and we will truly miss you. Thank you for everything you have done for GoodGym in Newcastle, we think you are brilliant.

We don't have any Community Missions listed this weekend, but keep checking back in case anything pops up last minute. We'll see you back next Monday for a big clear out of the Room of Doom at Byker Community Centre where hopefully there will be no frogs.

Have a great week knowing you started it the best way doing good things.

Anji x


Session Leader
This task supported
Changing Lives
Changing Lives is a national, registered charity which provides specialist support services for 6,000 vulnerable people and their families, every month
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Attendees
Richard Borrowdale
Anji Andrews
Removed User
Ross Dobson
Paul Andrews
Louise Belsom
Amy
Rachel
Emma Davies
Andrew Robson
Thomas Mather
Aimee
Faye Shepherd
Jon
Amy Baker
Darren Tate
Rachael Matilda
Gwyneth Jansen
Paul Smith
Anya Bramich
Gayle Scurfield
Dan Laws
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Newcastle

Oceans of Kindness flyering PART 2!
🗓Monday 13th May 6:15pm

It will let people know about the exhibition, enabling them to benefit from its message of positivity and connect with other in their community.

Anji AndrewsAimeeMichael Wisely
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Discuss this report
Newcastle runner

Mon 29th Jul 2019 at 10:02pm

I love the two photos of almost everyone bending over digging and busy! And also the one of the black squad!