It was so good to be back to Group Runs in Newcastle after a 497-day hiatus!

We met at a new starting point The Cycle Hub which was baked in early evening sunshine as we said hello to Seb who had previously run with GoodGym Bath, and was joining his Geordie GG family for the first time. Go and give him a cheer!

We had a recap of what GoodGym Newcastle have been up to during lockdown, including over 150 good deeds inclucing regular Foodbank missions, some one-off painting jobs, running to help isolated and shielding people and much more. If you want to catch up on everything we've done in the almost 500 days since our last group run, check out the run reports here.

The warm up was a chance to move, laugh and catch up on some Covid trivia with each other as we found out who'd baked what, who felt more fit than before, and most importantly what we'd been watching on Netflix. It was great to see Phil at his first Group Run, getting stuck in and getting to know some new faces.

We made our way to the task, with Paul leading a "creative" run route while Dan and I walked and shared tales of knee injury pain, just like the good old days. We were met by Dave and three other Ouseburn Trust volunteers who told us the history of Ouseburn Trust, a brilliant area by the Tyne that is overlooked by support from the local council and relies on volunteers like us to keep the pathways clear and tidy.

We were split into two groups to clear two areas of paths under the Cumberland Arms that have been neglected lately and were seriously overgrown. Armed with spades and cutters, we got stuck in and caught up on each others' news and the time flew by. It was soon time for an epic hill sprint session where we learned Phil has a mean competitive streak matched by Neil's. Team spirit was back in abundance and it was lovely to see Aimee and Miranda back to running together.

It was brilliant to be back together on such a beautiful night, and long may it continue!

Our next Community Mission is this Sunday where we are painting the Reception area at Stitch Sisters

Our next Group Run is on Saturday 31st July where we are helping at Nunsmoor Park Volunteer Day

See you soon!

In a change to our scheduled programming, we were actually path edging today and not removing ivy due to a late request to widen a path which nature had began reclaiming. We had a slightly delayed start as the ranger Mike 2.0 had rescued an escaped dog in the park before we arrived.

This task was a must for dog lovers, the DPM (dogs per minute) ratio was off the charts. We even had our own canine helper as Debbie dropped in with her dog to help out during walkies. Tom broke the record for "fastest use of the first aid kit" by patching up his hands, which had blistered from all the pickaxing yesterday, before we'd even begun.

Then we were off! We heigh ho'd our way from the meeting point to the offending narrow path carrying all the tools and snacks we were going to need. There was a good foot of mud that needed to be shifted before the path was back to its full size and shifting that much mud is hard work. The tea break couldn't come quick enough.

During the break Mike 2.0 us told of his 12 year experience working in the parks of Newcastle. He has even had some film he took in Jesmond Dene bought by Channel 5 for part of a nature documentary - incredible!

Back to work. Tom hates leaving a job half done so is always super productive as time is running out. In total we must have cleared over 20 meters of path!

Big love, A x

This was one of my all time favourite tasks.. a cheeky trot down to the Star and Shadow community cinema to be met by the enthusiastic task owner, Carmel, who made us all very welcome.

We were put to work straight away removing paint from the windows before cleaning them (all 128 of them!) whilst other GG’ers got on with ceiling painting, floor scrubbing, sweeping and mopping.

Everyone just cracked on in their usual jolly friendly manner.

By the end of the task the place was looking clean and tidy with lots of positive feedback from the volunteers.

Im sure we will be back here in the future!

Then off to the Cluny for a well earned lemonade.....

The rain held off this morning for a sunny session of leaflet delivering. Today, we were delivering leaflets for FoodCycle Monkchester that are offering the community a free meal in Byker every week!

At the meeting point our eye was drawn by a poster outside Harbottle park advertising their volunteering sessions with a picture of Miranda, Paul and Aimee from a previous mission! See the picture above - everyone in Byker has!

Liz achieved her 46th good deed today! We will be seeing her in her black shirt very soon!

We delivered a few hundred leaflets in half an hour and called it a day. We met a few people a long the way who already knew about FoodCycle and even a lady who had delivered the same leaflets we had!

Three more good deed added to the GoodGym Newcastle total which puts us on 1903 in total. 1903 was the year Orville Wright flew an aircraft in the first documented, successful, controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight. But, more importantly, we're about to hit 2000!

Big Love