Two GoodGymers helped out at Apple day at the bike garden. Apple day is a celebration of all things Apple related which takes place at the end of October when they are in abundance. There were stalls selling cakes, lots of apple related games and a lovely family atmosphere.

Scott's job was cutting up many apples before they could be shredded, presses and made into apple jucice. My job was on the apple of a string stall, a waterless alternative to bobbing for apples. It involved cutting holes in apples or half apples to make it easer and tying them on strings. Most children, but some keen adults, then tried to take a bite out of the apples without using their hands. Which is harder than it sounds as the apples are hard and moving around. Any child who managed it was rewarded with the apple/half apple and a super cute apple day 2024 badge.

We also bumped into GoodGymers Debbie and Tanya who where enjoying apple day. It was a really nice event to be a part of!

Thank you to Greening Wingrove for organising this event. It was so satisfying picking up tiny pieces of rubbish. Litteraly, two hours of collecting litter and the streets are still full of rubbish. There was all sorts. A bank card, a scarf, a rug, and a box of match sticks to name a few. While we couldn't pick it all up, every little bit counted. Greening Wingrove meet most Mondays for a local litter pick.

Tomorrow, you can join Louise at Hodgkin park:

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gardening-at-hodgkin-park-with-urban-green-newcastle

I went along to the Bike Garden this morning to assist the Greening Wingrove project/Friends of Nunsmoor Park with a litter pick.

For anyone who hasn't been before, Nunsmoor Park is a beautiful outdoor space in Newcastle. Within the park, is a hidden treasure/Community space called the Bike Garden.

I had got there a little early so I went for a wander around the park. It was warm as the Sun was shining, and so quiet which made it a lovely Monday morning.

I soon met one of the volunteers called Alison. Alison explained that the litter pick takes place every Monday morning.

Together we took out the equipment (a vast array of litter pickers, bin bags and gardening gloves)

We were soon met by all the regular volunteers, mainly people who lived nearby, who had also brought their young children along, so it was definitely one big team effort. The Community spirit felt brilliant.

We all split up in different directions. In the end I picked up so much rubbish, in various places, around the tennis courts, grassed areas and the playground.

We had all definitely made a big difference once we had regrouped with our rubbish.

I then stayed at the end to sit and talk with the the volunteers as we enjoyed a cup of tea and biscuits. I will definitely be joining in again soon!

Warning! This group run contained a cloak, a tourist, a newbie, a Japanese relay race and 300 leaflets

Firstly, can I just say, I presume it was SO COLD TONIGHT to fully give our Camden tourist Beth a true taste of the North East?! As always we started the evening with loads to celebrate including a new runner (Hello Ellen!), a visiting runner (Yay Beth!) a cloaked runner - happy 51st Good Deed, Andrew! Not to mention a 6 month streak celebration for Charlotte and a super warm up in which we discovered Dave can make himself the tallest person in the group, and Abi has great balance until you actually tell her that.

We were off tonight on a task that thankfully required us to keep moving, as we embarked on a huge leaflet drop in the Arthur's Hill area of town for Vertical Veg for Greening Wingrove. There had been a slight panic that we had been given 2000 leaflets instead of 200, and here I must shout out Louise who spent a very rock and roll Saturday night counting them, to thankfully discover there were "only" 300. These leaflets are a vital way of getting the message out to the local community about a new project encouraging people to grow their own vegetables in their back yards. The super projects on offer from Greening Wingrove can be found on their website if you want to read more.

We scattered off in trios and pairs and managed to cover all the streets listed in the task request in a very swift 15 minutes, leaving extra time for the fitness session - yay! A quick reminder of some sprint technique, a quick warm up using lamp posts and a confusing five minutes arranging ourselves into teams for an Ekiden attempt. It's basically another name for a relay but since reading The Way of the Runner (Finn) I have been a little obsessed by the whole thing.

Ekiden (駅伝) = a long-distance running multistage relay race mostly held on roads. The Japanese term originally referred to a post-horse or stagecoach which transmitted communication by stages.

Our Ekiden comprised three short legs and one long sprint finish in which Nick and Darren were victorious, winning our praise and admiration rather than the classic Japanese prizes of household items such as bin bags and cling film. Well done to everyone for putting in loads of effort and cheering each other on, it was awesome.

The social tonight looked pretty good too as the social-ites headed off to The Stack, complete with a bag full of individually sliced cake courtesy of Andrew to celebrate his 50 good deeds. See photos for amazing cake evidence!

Don't forget, there are two fantastic community missions this week. Tomorrow where you can spend a chilled Tuesday morning tidying a school library and Sunday where there is digging to be done for Newcastle Parks. Get involved if you can.

Finally, it's a huge GOOD LUCK to Task Force hero Charlotte who is running in the PARIS MARATHON on Sunday! Have fun and smile every mile. Bon chance Charlotte!

Happy running and walking. See you all next week,

Anji x