From the Austrian Alps to a GoodGym’s 'green community mission' in the lovely garden of roses in Vale Park, with a grand group: 15 GoodGymers – a great return to Good Gym-ing, yesterday!

Less great was the daily news: "One of the lions has passed", as Out of Africa movie’s co-star Meryl Streep said about Robert Redford, the "true Hollywood legend" actor, director, Sundance film festival founder and decades-long environmental activist, who passed away yesterday, aged 89.

This news might be relatively less touching for most of my fellow GoodGymers in Brighton, but your Area Activator, Stefania, has been hiding a secret love for Robert since its early teenager years, when she fell in love for the actor after watching “Out of Africa”, considered by my mum as my first adult cinema experience. It was love at first sight, on-screen! When I turned 40, I also received a massive bouquet of roses with a lovely message from Robert, via Interflora - it was actually a lovely gift from my friend Manuela 😊

Nevertheless, I like to dedicate our GoodGym green action of caring for Vale Park’s roses to my favourite actor, and secret love 😉. Here are some other tribute quotes: "He was a beautiful person in every way", “One of his kind”, "He championed progressive values like protecting the environment and access to the arts while creating opportunities for new generations of activists and filmmakers."

Robert was a hero for a lot of us. I will keep alive my long-lasting love and administration for such a trueful star believing that what counts is the story that we tell from our Good actions. Then, Let’s!

Welcome Paolo, Nathan, Susie to GoodGym Brighton, doing positive stuff for the environment ... a little bit like my Robert 😉

With waterproof trousers for Sarah and I, and wet socks after a Park run at Bevendean Down for Rachel, three Good Gymers helped the volunteers of Friends of William Clarke park set up the tents for ‘Block Party in the Patch.’ Tasks included bringing down tents in a trolley from the container and setting them up, and by the end of it we became quite efficient in remembering how to set them up. With the weather looking changeable, we needed to set up all the event shelters. Luckily the weather was dry for the event and we had a great turn out. William Clarke park (The Patch) which is a hidden park behind Elm Grove, has a fascinating history as it was built on old railway land from the now defunct branch line of the Kemp Town railway, with an old tunnel still existing from Elm Grove to Kemptown. However, this community event was a celebration of the New York Block Party scene of the 1970’s and 80’s and featured a fantastic local breakdancing krew, live street art from Casettelord, an interview with New York journalist Mark Riley, two rappers with a jazz band and a couple of Block Party DJ’s with lots of dancing.

I woke up this Sunday feeling extra-Palestinian. That feeling brought to mind a story my father once shared with me: when he was young in Tiberias, Palestine, Friday mornings were a community ritual. Families and neighbors would gather outside, sweep the streets, chat with one another, and together keep their neighborhood clean.

Inspired by that memory, I reached out to the Friends of Palmeira and Adelaide and discovered they had a gardening volunteering session scheduled. I joined them, broom in hand, and began sweeping up fallen leaves. By the end, I had collected a full bag of leaves for composting.

After thanking the friendly people there and saying my goodbyes, I returned home with a lighter heart—feeling better, grounded, and even more Brightonian and Palestinian.

I got marshaled in my usual spot at Hove Park. It was a good morning cheering on the awesome walker, joggers and runners. I even got to cheer on a fellow Goodgymer!

I attended a workshop by Active Ageing Alliance Learning representing Goodgym.A lot of important information have been shared on how to make activity more accessible for older people. It was a great opportunity for networking and socialising

Sanctuary Runners Gaza Relay Run