Making the most of the of the evening sun we headed to the Bevy. We welcomed back Kitty!

The Bevy Pub– More Than a Pub! The Bevy is the only community run pub on an estate sited in Moulsecoomb at the margins of Brighton & Hove city. As well as pouring a good pint they run events for the whole community including a Kids Club, Disability Disco and Seniors Club. They are struggling for funds but still providing support and activities for the local community, thanks to the support of everyone for More than a Good cause! 😉

We had a longer run of approx 7k with a sting in the tail with a hill at the end!

We were helping master gardener Dave, a very much-loved member of The Bevy community, with the community garden where the produce grown is used for feeding the Seniors Club. The GoodGym Brighton’s group got busy weeding the bushes of berries, under great coordination from Frances, Nicola, Jane and Stefania for tools provision and time keeping! Some of us dug out compost to use as mulch to renjuvinate the soil all around those well managed bushes that are still gifting The Bevy’s chef with succulent little fruits to make apple & berries crumbles. While others prepared soil beds with recycled cardboards and carried out buckets of green waste compost up the sloping garden to improve the fertility and health of the soil, so reducing weed growth in the future. A smaller team, including Pippa, Liam and Ben watered the upper flowery allotment and picked up the grown veg, including beans and squashes that I remember GoodGym volunteers planted here last spring.

In a short time, we made a bit difference to Dave’s garden and left him with a big indulged smile on his face. You, Dave, Warren and all The Bevy’s community volunteers are greatly contributing to the future resilience of such a Good pub!

The Bevy Pub– More Than a Pub! An engaged community of friends and volunteers believing in a shared social good purpose. GoodGym Brighton is proud to befriend you, and we will be happy to return in winter for some painting!

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GoodGym Brighton made a heroic return to Somerset Point, where we have contributed various tasks over the years to keep their garden looking fresh.

On this sunny August evening, we met at the usual spot and began our efforts by running up an epic hill to reach our destination. The task tonight: weeding. The tool shed: open. The snails: everywhere.

Juliet and Sherman took charge of the shears and dealt with some unruly bushes round the front (ooer), ensuring that access to the building was kept clear for people with limited mobility. The rest of us got stuck into the weeds that seemed to have sprung up in every available space. It always amazes me how rapidly a big group of people can make a big difference to a task like this, and we left Somerset Point looking remarkably neater than when we arrived.

To finish up, we jogged down to the seafront for a sunset run. After assuming single file formation, we executed a straightforward workout in which the person at the back sprinted to the front, while the rest of us jogged continuously. Edel workshopped some bootcamp-style chanting to take this to the next level (although I'm not sure it was possible for us to look any cooler). Finally, we had a collective stretch in the last of the sunlight, before making our way to the pub for a well deserved cold beverage.

I miss the summer, I really do! Don’t you? Regardless, it was such a great pleasure to be running with other 8 brave GoodGym-ers at yesterday's group session. We also welcomed Mariam, who was not discouraged at all but the rainy introduction to GoodGym Brighton!

Armed with rain cover ☔, weeds scrapers🧹provided by the B&H Tidy Up Team, loppers ✂ and other garden tools borrowed from Brighton Borrowers, we joined forces 💪 with a few other brave volunteers from Round Hill: the community hero Rob, my lovely neighbour Josh and the super active Aurelie from the Sylvan Hall Residents Association.

Together, we managed to clear Cat-Creep (ie the long steep stairway connecting Wakefield Road with Roundhill Crescent, where tods are crossing 🐸), a great length of the pathway of Wakefield Road, and the surrounding of the orchard at the East end of Sylvan Hall, which is aimed to flourish as a secret biodiversity spot of this residential estate. Mariam also managed to save cute snails from the green clearance! 🐌

This was a great and fully appreciated effort! Thank YOU all, GoodGym! Thank you also for helping to save good bread loaves and pasties from being wasted. Hope you enjoyed them for dinner 😊.

To the next one, and to the summer to come (hopefully).

What a turn out at yesterday’s GoodGym session together with the Friends of Vale Park. This is a local community in South Portslade, near Brighton, dedicated to improving Vale Park. They want it to be a place where the neighbourhood comes together, enjoys themselves, takes care of the public green space and becomes the heart of the local community.

Historically, Vale Park was a ‘Flint Pit’. In 1917 it was a quarry used for the extraction of sand and flints, and then became a dump. During the First World War the area was used as a training ground for soldiers who built bridges over the water-filled pits. At the south east corner, there was a deep pond fed by a natural spring. It seemed to be a popular place for children to play, to have some great games and excursions there, not without some incidents. Now it is a lovely park with colorful and flowering roses.

The Friends of Vale Park love their park and hope we do too. And we do!

15 GoodGym-ers cycled or ran to the park to help unbinding wonderful roses from the attack of burning nettles and other itching and stinging weeds. With extraordinary results! A great session for a belated celebration of Volunteers Week with some proper “Beerbusiness” at our follow up social gathering in the pub.

VALE PARK GARDENING GROUP is STARTING SOON. You might be interested to know that starting on Sat 28th June at 10 am, and then every LAST Saturday of the month, there will be a new Vale Park Gardening group. It’ll be a great chance to be a part of a lovely community, meet new people, do some gentle exercise in the fresh air and keep those weeds at bay in their beautiful rose beds. Good for the body, mind and soul!

The Friends of Vale Park are looking for a group name for the new Vale Park Gardening group, with “Weedy Ones” getting my vote 😊!