It was the return of the leaflets tonight after a couple of weeks of doing other stuff. While digital media keeps on doing its thing you can’t ignore the value of the leaflet and tonight four GoodGymers set out in Byker to share the news of a bumper calendar of activities at Building Futures East for East End Women. The organisation was so happy about this one that they even gave us a mention on BBC radio Newcastle last week.

It was a male-heavy session tonight and I found myself outnumbered but definitely here for the girl power. I shared my dubious map-planning skills as the only walker, and the boys trooped off to run to a point in Byker and get cracking before meeting me (walking) there. Damu led the run for his 99th good deed and did it like a trooper despite a rubbish cold. He’s certainly earned those wings!

We had 250 leaflets and flyers to post tonight and with the maze-like streets ahead of us thanked the inventor of WhatsApp location share to make sure we met back up somewhere in the middle. Anyone who’s done a Byker drop knows it can get a little bit confusing.

Within just ten minutes I’d posted out my stash of leaflets and keen to help the boys I sent my request and found they were almost done too. I don’t know why after so many years of GoodGym I continue to underestimate the speed of our leaflet skills. Wandering back to the meeting point a member of the public kindly asked me if I was ok- I must have looked a bit lost! It’s moments of simple human kindness that I really love and I was really grateful for her checking.

Meeting back up it was time for the fitness session and return of the ladders. It’s been ages since I cracked the ladders out and it was as fun as ever seeing everyone display their ability and balance skills and give it a real go.

This Saturday we are celebrating a superb task owner in our Urban Green Newcastle task at St Lawrence Park. There will be cake! Come and say thanks to a legend as he retires and do good stuff at the same time. You can sign up here.

A beatiuful morning to run, walk and cycle our way around Gateshead and Newcastle quayside, finishing with coffee at the Cycle Hub where we watched some kayakers litter picking in the Tyne.

Huge welcome to James for his first session with us.

We spent a gloriously sunny morning getting stuck in to help Sandown Allotments with their car park transformation. Lots of muscle was required for the jobs today that included weeding, wheelbarrowing, removing weeds from tarmac and spreading woodchip. Phew! Paul, Damu and I were fresh from Windy Nook parkrun where Paul took an impressive first place while Lucy and Catriona had been to Saltwell park on the way too so we were definitely suitably warmed up for this workout.

It was fab to have a large group out helping for this one including new (to us!) member Catriona we loved having you as part of the family today! We had a number of people from the allotment express their gratitude for our help with the transformation, and got bonus points for helping to return the equipment and crack the code of a very stubborn lock.

All in a day's work!

We were happy to be returning to Byker Lodge adult resource centre tonight, after some of us made a start tidying up the garden last week.

Having joined in with the task last week, Angela was well aware of what was in store for us this week, so she met us there, armed with a whole set of gardening tools, which proved essential. Max, Adam and I met at Stepney Bank Stables. We stood for a few minutes watching the rain and debating the pros (few, if any) and cons (lots) of wallpaper! By the time we finished and gave Max some tips on how to remove it, the rain had almost stopped so we ventured out on the one mile mostly uphill run to Byker Lodge. Angela and her tools had beaten us to it so we got straight to work!

Angela and Max did a great job of clearing the overgrown grass from the edge of a bed - the brick edging had been completely covered and it looked amazing when they were finished. What a transformation!

Meanwhile, Adam limbered up, leaped into action and lopped a load of looping ivy to make the paths and seating area more accessible. Great job!

I spent another GoodGym session on my knees weeding, also clearing edges, this time along the wall beside the path. I sense another few days of post-GoodGym back ache coming - but well worth it!

We spent the last few minutes sweeping and tidying up (it turns out that shiny ivy leaves don't like being swept away!) I think it's fair to say we were satisfied with our efforts - we hope that the staff and residents at Byker Lodge are happy with their newly revealed edges too!

It’s been ages since we helped out at Byker Lodge so I was really happy to get the call a few weeks back to come and help with some gardening in their lovely outdoor space. It was a great warm evening for such capers, unlike when we tried to help at Connie on Saturday and plans were scuppered by heavy rain. The great British summer, eh?

A warm welcome awaited runners and walkers this evening, with Damu leading the way. Byker Lodge is a brilliant facility offering support to adults in the area and just the type of task we like was waiting for us. We were tasked with edging the paths (always a very satisfying workout!) and digging out some weeds which Scott had already got cracking with, with gusto before the walkers even arrived. It was a brilliant session with everyone really stuck in- in fact I didn’t think we were going to get the shovel out of Max’s hands when it was time to go! I hope you can see the differences in the photos from tonight.

The task owner Scott was so grateful for the effort we put in and delighted that we could fit in a part two to go back next week. It would be great to get a big turn out and finish the transformation! We felt really appreciated tonight as a tray of snacks had been left out for us finishing up.

There are two more ways to do good and feel great this week as we support two new tiny forests in our patch. Drop in on Tuesday in Fawden between 4-6 or at the same time on Wednesday in Westerhope.