On an evening of glorious (and, some might say, blinding) sunshine, this week's mission was at Wilding Waterhall, a former golf clubhouse turned in a multi-purpose community oasis perched on chalk grassland with knockout views of the South Downs, aka miles away from Brighton city centre up a not insignificant hill on the other side of the A27. Undeterred, the GoodGym team racked up the mileage by wheel or shoe to impress their Strava followers before tackling a menu of painting, window cleaning and weeding tasks with the usual combo of fired-up energy and miscellaneous chit-chat.

Rob, Events & Venues Officer from Brighton & Hove Food Partnership (BHFP), welcomed the group, served up glasses of orange squash (prompting a Proustian moment for some) and was duly impressed by the transformed walls, windows and paths at the end of the session. BFHP, who manage the venue, also run the Brighton & Hove Community Kitchen, another GoodGym regular destination due for another visit later in May.

As a poster fixed to a wall in the venue attested, Wilding Waterhall is part of the National Trust-led Changing Chalk partnership, which through rewilding aims to "restore lost landscapes and habitats, bring history and local cultures to life and provide new experiences in the outdoors".

This mission coincided with Mental Health Awareness Week, a cause very much allied to the ethos of GoodGym and the dual wellbeing boost that comes from volunteering and physical exercise, and to the work at Wilding Waterhall, promoting the restorative power of a spectacular natural environment 🐎🦗🌳

What a great GoodGym group session demonstrating once again the power of a community that cares!

WHAT's ON NEXT at GoodGym Brighton?
Plenty to amuse you to join us. EVERYBODY is welcome!

Thirteen GoodGymmers came out in force to help keep a community kitchen clean and tidy.

Eight of us ran 2km from our meeting point at the Old Stein, braving the long climb up Ditchling road to meet the rest of the group at our new task venue - One Church on Florence Road. One Church is a faith based community in Brighton that also runs various projects and initiatives that helps to bring the community together.

One such project is the Florence Road Cafe - a well used space to relax, work or meet other people. And we were tasked with giving their kitchen a good clean and tidy up! From clearing and cleaning the fridges, to pulling out ovens to clean them inside and out, to sorting pots and pans to make them easier to access. This really was an example of many hands making light work, as we worked our way through the long list of jobs in just 45minutes.

As a notice on the fridge said: "the first rule of the kitchen fairy, is there is no kitchen fairy; the kitchen is only cleaned by volunteers" And our amazing group of GoodGymmers certainly did a good job of being kitchen fairies this week.

WHAT's ON NEXT at GoodGym Brighton?
Plenty to amuse you to join us soon.

EVERYBODY is welcome!

We had a quick change of plans due to an emergency cancellation of our task at the Real Junk Food Project. Brighton Good Gym-ers practiced their hill running heading up to the Brighton Table Tennis Club.

We made quick work of washing up and cleaning the kitchen and reorganising cuboards.

Others folded and resorted the lost property pile so people could find their items more quickly. This included sorting out a large pile of lost glasses.

The task was done in record speed!

Thanks Theresa, BTTC Women coach, for hosting GoodGym today, and all as ever for the amazing job!

We followed this session with a social gathering at a Christmas Choir, where GoodGym-ers Rosie and Ben were the stars!

All STARS TT, actually :-) !

On a cold November night 13 intrepid GoodGym-ers made the short run over to the Brighton Community Kitchen to give it a good clean and a freshen up. We were joined on the task by first-timers Steve and Nicole!

Upon arrival, Jo from the kitchen explained to us the mission of the kitchen (part of the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership) to offer practical cookery skills and nutrition education to people facing food insecurity with their community cooking classes. The classes also help foster a community spirit, tackle social isolation and promote mental health.

With the help of one of Jo's famous checklists we split into groups to tackle sorting out the plastic bowls (Russian Doll-style), ordering plates, chopping boards and cutlery, giving all the stools and chairs a thorough clean, giving the ovens a deep clean and squeegeeing the outside windowsills.

Although ostensibly an altruistic mission, some GoodGym-ers got immense satisfaction from ensuring that everything was in its proper, ordered, place in the kitchen (cough, cough, Jane).

Once we'd got through all of that Jo thanked us and said that although it seems like a small thing to do these tasks, it makes a huge difference to the her as they are things that she just doesn't find time to do.

We said goodbye to Jo with a promise to return early next year and headed-off to the nearby Basketmakers Arms for a pie-and-pint social which was expertly organised by an absent Frannie!

See WHAT's ON NEXT at GoodGym Brighton!