Change (the garden) Grow (some vegetables) Life (enjoy it)

That’s what eight GoodGymers did this week, at Change Grow Life in Richmond House. We removed bind weeds and brambles to shape the ground of what will become a green oasis for gardening activities and growing vegetables.

Change Grow Live (CGL) offers support services to help people make positive changes in their lives, including help with substance misuse, mental health, and social challenges. They also have a gardening project where they are creating a new garden space, potentially aimed at providing therapeutic or social support through gardening as a tool to help people make positive changes in their lives. This could involve creating new garden spaces, growing vegetables, offering gardening activities as part of their support programs, or collaborating with other organizations to promote gardening for wellbeing.

With this social mission GoodGym Brighton also helped CGL to get ready for the memorial service that they hold annually on National Remembrance Day, which is the last Friday in July, to honour those who have lost their lives to drug and alcohol addiction. In 2025, this falls on July 25th. The garden might not be fully ready by then, but it shows some flourishing plants that were hidden by the brambles until now.

This was a very satisfying social mission!

"The bindweed roots pierce down/ Deeper than men do lie" (Walter de la Mare)

Following an already legendary mission at The Bevy which saw the gang split into idyllic orchard/ pungent backyard areas resonant of heaven/ hell, this week GoodGym Brighton looked forward to all the carefree associations that a bed of roses might suggest in sunny Portslade. However, the latest challenge was no walkover, instead the sisyphean task of removing bindweed, whose rope-like roots can plunge 4m deep, from an attractive rose plot in local open-space gem Vale Park.

No number of hurdles, including sharp thorns, stinging nettles and even an errant deadly nightshade, could deter the vigour of the GoodGym gang's gardening or dim the volume of its high-tempo zeitgeisty chatter. Lucy, from Friends of Vale Park, heralded the group 'angels' and bestowed ice pops in orange, lemon and pink flavours. Meanwhile, the group applauded Olivia's recent milestone of 50 good deeds, and finally celebrated with a collective vertical leap, appropriate in a week when GoodGym founder Ivo Gormley is featuring at a B2B event called Elevate, exploring the link between "physical activity, community connection, and climate action".

Friends of Vale Park is a recently-formed community organisation in Portslade, keen to improve and use the park for the benefit of the local neighbourhood and residents. Formerly a hazardous flint pit and training ground for soldiers in WW1, Vale Park is now a popular leafy space with outdoor exercise facilities, scout hut and book swap chest, and events run by the Friends include an Easter egg hunt, a pumpkin carving workshop and picnics in the park.

11 Brighton GoodGym participants made their way to Palmeira Square to help Friends of Palmeira and Adelaide look after their community green space.

We were very happy to welcome Edwin and Rachel on their very first good deed and they couldn’t pick a better time to join with this task. We all quickly started with racking and collecting leaves and in no time managed to collect 53 very full bags of dried leaves and weed. Leaving Palmeira Square FREE of the occupying dirt.

Our friend Stuart from Friends of Palmeira and Adelaide was very happy with Goodgym contribution. We ran a couple of loops around the square and then we headed to our monthly social organised by our social secretary Michelle that included a challenging quiz with questionable overly long questions and we managed to smash the music round.

This week’s task falls on National Volunteers Week, a week long event in the UK that celebrates and acknowledges the valuable contributions of volunteers across the country.

In my "Life in the UK" exam I was required to memorise what are the British Values and one of them was 'Volunteering' and 'Helping your Community'. Makes me feel proud to be British and I was glad to be part of the team that Freed Palmeira Square from the occupying leaves and looking forward to free every other square as well from any occupation.

A closing note from Stefania, our Area Activator:

“It’s Volunteers Week, fellow GoodGymers.

Please give yourselves a large pat on the back for your extraordinary acts of kindness and generosity. Every Good deed does really make a difference, and every beneficiary in Brighton and Hove is always most grateful to have us all. GoodGym Brighton!

We are a community that cares of other communities - Saying thank you is never enough!"

Proud and satisfied, let’s make OUR NEXT SESSION another great success!

On a very warm Tuesday evening 9 GoodGymmers braved the long uphill jog to Manor Paddock - a lovely communal garden in sheltered housing that we visit regularly to help them keep the space tidy and accessible for residents.

On arrival we met some more GoodGymmers and our host Luc, who put us to task with a list of jobs for the session.

The main task for the evening was digging out two large Lavender bushes which had become quite unruly, and replacing them with some smaller plants for the summer season. It was tough going, but at least it smelled great!

The rest of us got our hands dirty helping with other jobs in the garden; collecting dried grass for mulching, cutting back conifer bushes and weeding in the raised beds.

Once we were done (and had made friends with resident Doggo Max!) most of us made our way back to our meeting point - enjoying the cooler temperatures and downhill elevation.

And a big welcome to first timer Jenny , we hope you enjoyed your first session with us :)