On a deceptively chilly Sunday morning, 8 goodgymmers gathered at Hove Park cafe to embark on our monthly trail run. This month we headed up into the Downs north of Hove, making our way up through a muddy three cornered copse, braving the Dyke Road roundabout, and emerging at the top of Waterhall nature reserve - where we were greeted by the sight of some beautiful galloping horses. Thankfully the horses didnt follow us as we made our way up towards Devils Dyke, before turning back and looping round past Hove Golf Club, across the A27 and back into Hove.

After picking up newcomer Helen on route, we returned to Hove Park cafe to enjoy some warm drinks and food - refuelling after an invigorating run. An egg-cellent time had by all!

On a cold, wintery Sunday morning, 8 brave souls gathered outside Falmer station. There were hats, gloves, cups of coffee and even some leg warmers - we were ready for our 10km run around the perimeter of Stanmer Park.

When asked which direction we wanted to go in, one response was "whichever way starts with the uphill". But in Stanmer Park, every option starts with an uphill...so climb we did!

Thankfully, the steady uphill track took us through some beautiful woodland and we were rewarded with panoramic views of Brighton when we finally reached the top. And we all know that what goes up must come down, and the second half of our trail run was a pleasant downhill jaunt through more woodland before opening out into the rolling hills of the lower park. But, that wasn't the end - we still had 1km to go before we reached our end destination - the local pub in Falmer Village and a warm plate of food!

Four brave GoodGymmers made their way to Hove Lagoon on a very chilly Saturday morning to help with the Big Clean Up - an initiative run by the Friends of Hove Lagoon, bringing volunteers together to help clean up the well-used facilities.

Thankfully, after some initial panic, we were** not** tasked with getting into the water to collect rubbish from the lagoon bed - that was assigned to the very keen local lifesavers group who were well equipped with wetsuits and boots....instead we were tasked with tidying up the borders around the entrance - cutting back overgrown grass and soil to maintain the paths and generally make it look a lot nicer!

Along with some litter picking and rock collecting, we completed our task in good time, and could just about feel our hands by the end....a warm coffee was very much needed.

What is B.fest I hear you ask? Is it what a time-starved cityboy calls the first meal of the day? A tonic wine made by Scottish monks? No! It is, of course, Brighton Youth Festival, an annual youth arts festival with the aim of making arts and culture more accessible to young people.

B.fest 2024 runs from Saturday 26th October to 2nd November in their temporary Gloucester Road site. They are currently in the process of renovating their home on Edward Street and hope to be back there permanently for next year’s festival.

A big group of us made the short jog over to Gloucester Road (plus Ben who decided to make a tour of it and first jog to the old B.fest site!) to help with putting the finishing touches to the venue ahead of the festival. Upon arrival we were directed to the top floor into a big space that is going to be used as a gallery to display all the art on show. The space had already been prepped with wooden ledges all the way around to put the pictures on. Our task was to paint the walls and ledges brilliant white.

In order to preserve our spotless running gear (only the finest for Goodgymmers) we were provided with overalls, shoe covers and gloves. After laying dust sheets and strategically placing masking tape, Sarah expertly removed some pesky screws and then half of the team took paint brushes to paint the wooden ledges while the other half big rollers to do the 2 walls. While that was happening Stefania and Liam went downstairs to help Darryl dismantle a scaffold tower he had used to create a spray-paint mural on one of the outside walls.

We made short work of the walls along with a few extra boards that needed painting for the display and were soon able to pose for an ambitious photoshoot upon completion. The (now) sparkling white gallery has had the Goodgym touch and is ready for the weekends festivities!

Fancy getting more involved with B'Fest? You can, volunteers are always welcome!

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Yesterday was our third appointment in a row with a very uncertain weather calling the greatest GoodGym motivation to get out to help St Andrew Church in Hove, for our weekly group session.

We BELIEVED in it, and all worked out very well – apart the fact that I punctured my bike 😊.
Those dull dark clouds and weather warning of risk of heavy rain did not even touch us - just!

St Andrew Church is a busy city community church with a visionary plan to change their asset to create an open and inclusive space more adaptable to all, from small to grown up audiences. It is a community building, building for the community, where everybody is always most welcome!

In front of the church, their Friday’s meetings in the sanctuary have been lacking space due to invading weeds, promptly now removed by GoodGym-ers. And, indoor, you can now smell the fresh fragrance of botanic scent and of wax (a bit less botanic 😉) because of additional GoodGym-ers’ cleaning action!

Our eyes are already shining of excitement for what will potentially turn to be a GoodGym indoor refurbishment workout! For now, we support the great expectations of Rev. Dan, John, and of the whole community.

A nice group session for Jasmin, a visiting GoodGym-er from London. Follow us to see what’s on next