This evening, 7 GoodGymers met at Stepney Bank Stables on a cold but dry Monday evening for a jog up to The Lighthouse Project in Byker where we were back after nearly 2 months! We welcomed Holly, another Newcastle medical student on her first (hopefully of many) GoodGym mission as well as Selim, a PhD student from the University too on his second GoodGym mission, proudly sporting his new GoodGym t-shirt, Ewan and Ruby, another two medical students who have now become regulars already, Scott, Richard, Elena (myself, writing my first ever report stepping up to my new TaskForce role!) and last but not least, Zach, GoodGymer number 8, joined us a bit later after circling round the centre until he found the one unlocked access to it!

This was our first group mission there since the clock changed back to GMT time and we’d underestimated how well lit the youth centre was. Before we knew it, we’d filled up 4 large bags with dry leaves and weeds from the surrounding green area we had trimmed significantly last time - it is rewarding for us to see this place improve so much every time we go! Finally, we all jogged back to the Stables via a questionable ‘shortcut’ that felt if anything longer than the usual route but a perfect excuse to start the week with some miles in the bag!

Please join us for another visit to The Lighthouse Project next week!

This Monday was considerably more pleasant than last week, with a lot more sunshine and a lot less rain (none). Five GoodGymers set out for The Lighthouse Project, aiming to make the garden look better.

Lots of large weeds of various kinds were pulled out and chopped down, while the long grass had a trim. The before and after photographs show quite a difference!

We're doing more of the same at Greenhill Allotments on Saturday, before our first volunteer stint for a while at Stepney Bank Stables next Monday. Please join us if you can!

Five GoodGymers visited The Lighthouse Project in Byker for the third time recently, to continue our mission to rid their gardens of weeds.

We welcomed Norb to GoodGym Newcastle for the first time. He really enjoyed the run to The Lighthouse Project up the hills and steps!

We removed a large amount of weeds across quite a large area, the biggest issue being finding bags big enough to put them in. For the first time in quite some time on a Monday night, we got absolutely soaked as the rain came pouring down towards the end. We got particularly wet on the run back to Stepney Bank Stables!

Another successful evening though and we'll be back at The Lighthouse Project next week. Please join us if you can!

We greeted two newcomers to GoodGym Newcastle tonight. Welcome to Elena, not new to GoodGym but joining us in Newcastle for the first time. We're very glad that you made it just in time! Another warm welcome to Joanna, completing her first GoodGym good deed tonight. Hopefully the first of many! We hope to see you in your red GoodGym t-shirt soon!

Tonight's task was to visit The Lighthouse Project to clear some weeds from their garden. The level of effort from everyone tonight was very impressive and at least eight large bags were filled with weeds. Task owner Jo and the other staff seemed pleased with our efforts!

We'll be back at The Lighthouse Project in two weeks. Next Monday sees us volunteering at Jesmond Library for the first time in seven years. Please join us if you can!