It was a lovely evening for a walk around Shieldfield and Heaton. What wasn't so lovely was the sheer amount of litter scattered all over the place. Particularly drinks containers, be they cans, bottles or cups. There was even an empty bottle of wine.

On the podium for strangest items found were a car battery, a can of engine oil and a candlestick holder. Although perhaps the bike seat should have been in the top three!

The most littered street in the area award goes to South View West. A local resident put the blame on Uber drivers. On our last litter pick in this area we noticed the enormous amount of litter on this street and deliberately went back to do something about it.

All in all, two GoodGymers filled seven bin liners with litter from a pretty small area. A satisfying night's work and a difference made.

Next on the agenda is trying to ensure Leazes Park regains its Green Flag, with some gardening on Saturday and a litter pick next Monday (from One Strawberry Lane).

The weather in Newcastle has just been too good lately for Greenhill allotments. Hot and sunny weather is normally not something to complain about, but it makes the ground very hard and difficult to dig. We made more progress on our latest visit, but there remains work to do.

It was very pleasing to see courgettes and spring onions growing in part of the plot that we had cleared previously.

We'll be back to finish the job on Magret's plot, please join us next time if you can!

Three GoodGymers departed Stepney Bank Stables armed with litter pickers and bin liners, probably not aware just how much litter they would collect. Twelve bags later and an immense feeling of satisfaction meant a big difference was made.

At least five different members of the public stopped to chat and commend the litter picking efforts tonight. A couple of GoodGym flyers were handed out, so hopefully one or two of them might join us next time!

28 degrees in Newcastle on 1st May might well be a record! It certainly made for a hot, sweaty task for Adam and me!

This task was a return to Cohen Court, a facility offering retirement and assisted living for over 55s with Home Group in Gateshead. There was more ivy to be removed in a different part of the garden today, together with other shrubbery to clear a set of raised beds. Task owner Andrea is keen that the residents are able to start to work on the plot, creating a lovely space for all the residents to enjoy. Fortunately, we were provided with a range of tools to tackle those pesky persistent ivy roots. We were also very grateful for the jugs of water and juice!

90 minutes of working on our sun tans saw the raised beds cleared! Andrea seemed pleased so we await a call-back for our next task!

Three GoodGymers helped out at Stepney Bank Stables on a very pleasant Monday evening. The tasks tonight involved unloading hay bales from the horse box and then sweeping it out, before trying to remove the weeds from between the cobbles in the yard. A random oasser-by even offered to assist at one point!

It was lovely to see Jason back in the toon, on a sabbatical away from Leeds - fingers crossed your St James' Park experience is a good one.

Alongside Damu and Chris and Charlotte from Newcastle Parks, we had a mission with some weedy cobbles.

We filled trug after trug (another word for those plastic buckets) but as ever with these kind of tasks, there is still plenty to tackle next time!