Let's start with a big GoodGym welcome for Jessica on her very first good deed! It was lovely to meet you and talk all things GG ahead of what might be a new GoodGym on the horizon... watch this space!

A cracking turn out for a brilliant session tonight with Ouseburn Trust. Always a winning session as it's quite literally on our doorstep. Dave the task owner arrived in style tonight - a multicoloured kilt in honour of Northern Pride and as always a huge smile and welcome for us. He had two jobs for us tonight and finally the rain in Newcastle had stopped for long enough to let us get stuck in.

Louise and Dan opted for a tree chopping option and got cracking with saws and choppers looking like total professionals. Dan showing muscle as well as brains after graduating from Bath Uni last week- go on Dan!. The rest of us trudged slowly up the long staircase to the top of Ouseburn where an overgrown path awaited. This is where I must confess I remembered to get a before photo and not an after photo (argh!) so you’ll just have to imagine the amazing job we did up there.

Cutting back overgrown nettles can be a bit testing and Tom came out with the title of Most Prickled GoodGymer in this one. Everyone got really stuck in tonight as you can tell by the photo of Lucy on her hands and knees clearing mud. That’s the spirit! We loved using spades to whack back the pesky nettles - a perfect stress relief to start the week.

A five minute circuit finished off the session combining sprints, squats, press ups and my bleepy bleeper. Another brilliant start to the week.

There are three community missions this weekend: Nuns Moor Park volunteer day on Saturday promises more gardening goodness, while there are two junior parkrun takeovers happening in South Shields and Gateshead on Sunday.

See you soon!

We arrived ready to lend a hand at the Chev allotment.

The first task involved moving some wooden boards/planks from one side of the allotment to the other. This required a lot of teamwork, balancing and laughter.

The second task was a general tidy up. This required out of the pot thinking, some welly pairing and some more laughter.

Look out for more tasks with the Chev allotment.

Cheer Michael on from afar as he completes in the round Sheffield run on Sunday.

All are welcome to Goodgym.

The Comfrey Project is hidden gem nestled in the heart of Bensham. Step through the main building and experience a beautiful community garden where you can meander through the fruit and vegetable patches to find a pond, fire pit, beehives and plenty of places to sit and appreciate nature. The site is home to 90 different varieties of bees with the hives tended to by North East Young Lads and Dads.

This garden provides a place for the community to meet and take part in many activities to improve their heath and wellbeing.

Following a warm welcome and tour of the garden, we were tasked with weeding the raspberry patches. Armed with our weed cheat sheet and tools we quickly got to work. Debbie leading the way with a rousing shout:

"If your names not down you’re not coming out!"

The piles of weeds and grass soon began to grow and the garden quickly filled with more members of the community. Louise, Dan and Eleanor found Gooseberries among their Raspberries.

Over a quick coffee break Louise shared the memories of the Two Ronnie Phantom Raspberry Blower sketch as she admitted to an accidentally removing a raspberry bush! Thankfully spotted by the an eagle eyed Comfrey project volunteer and re-planted.

Once the raspberry patches were complete we moved onto a flower bed and conversations about what we do to protect our mental health at work. We all agreed we needed a garden like this in walking distance of the office!

The morning soon disappeared but the day wasn’t over in the garden. While we were weeding the kitchen had been a hive of activity preparing lunch for all the volunteers. Regrettably only Kristi and Anthony were able to stay and join the meal. We’ll know better next time!