Welcome Anjali to your first goodgym mission.

Anjali and I got to work on sorting the riding boots, Anna sorted the riding hats and Scott, Aimee and Max sorted the riding lanes.

We all came together at the end to sweep the stable paths.

During tonights photography shoot, a hat was temporarily stolen. The hat was soon retrieved directly from the culprit.

Photo credits go to Aimee and Anna.

Have a good week everyone!

Five GoodGymers helped with the phase two of the carpark project at Sandown Allotment on a sunny Saturday morning.

Last year we helped Sandown Allotment to level one side of their carpark to put in woodchips and planters. This year we were back to work on the other side of the carpark which they are also trying to level to hopefully put up a structure on it for them to have a dry space to host community events and share the vegetables grown there.

As task owner Corretta showed us the area which would need clearing we were all struck with a feeling of 'how will we even make a dent in this mammoth task?' Not being defended by a good challenge we chose an area to focus on and all got stuck in to do as much as possible in the 2 hours we had. We started by moving a small pile of rocks out of the way to allow easier access and Chris made the neatest rock pile I have ever seen. Then Lucy and Anna starting clearing sticks and branches from the top and me, Max and Chris started digging.

There was alot of discoveries in our digging. Anna found two seperate parts of what looked like a small fancy table and was very satisfied to put them back together but we never found the top. Lucy found a rush latch and Chris managed to dig out some sort of oil can. Conversation turned to The Traitors, with Lucy declaring she could never be a traitor, and then suspiciously vanishing!

We had a nice tea break around midday. We sat on a picnic bench near the other side of the carpark which we worked on previously. There was tea or coffee and a selection of biscuits, chocolates and sweet treats.

Anna casually dropped in that she is running a half marathon tomorrow! Good luck Anna! What a way to warm up with a whole lot of digging!

Just like last year, when we did the other side of the carpark, the before and after pictures just don't do it justice, see other pictures for the amount of soil we dug out, the hug pile of rocks excavate and the weird buried finds. We felt like my made a huge difference in two hours!

There is a steep bank from the path in the park up to the pavement where it seems people finish their drinks/sweets/crisps and chuck them over the fence. In winter it becomes apparent how much litter there is there. So, today I decided to tackle it and got a great workout - looking for the next hand or foothold, manoeuvring myself and the bag around sticky out branches and brambles. It was a bit like bouldering! I do wish the bottle deposit-return system was still in effect. I think it would make a huge difference.

Litter pick around the park.

Many muddy hands made light(er) work at this tree-licious task with Chloe, Michael and Rhian from Urban Green Newcastle at Harbottle Park in Byker.

Six GoodGymmers made their way to find a forest on a frosty morning, including a new face (to some!) with Adrian joining us for his first good deed!

There was mulch to do as we cleared the overgrown grass from around the flourishing forest and gave them a little donut of mulch to be getting on with. Barrows-a-plenty amongst muddy knees and hidden trees.

Harbottle Park is a fantastic area and it’s great to see space used in this way, creating some biodiversity for nature to nurture.

There was tea, coffee, mince pies and good vibes as the gang had a well-earned break, before one last go at helping this forest to grow.

Honoured that this was my first task as TaskForce leader! I couldn’t help but recognise the gang’s efforts with a little cash in hand - strictly edible, of course.

Can’t wait for the next one and hope you’ll all join me!