Gotta admit I was a bit worried about that one! A new meet location, a new task, a longer run and a LOT to do! What could possibly go wrong? Well as it turned out absolutely nothing!

So after meeting at Saunders Park we made out way into deepest, darkest Bevendean to visit The Real Junk Food Project’s Food Hub. Task owner Sarah explained that this is where all the food collected from supermarkets is stored before it gets distributed to the various cafe projects around the city. The hub also functions as a shop, on a pay as you feel basis. It’s not a food bank, no referral needed so if you fancy doing your shopping there and paying a fair rate for it you would not only be helping keep food out of landfill but also help the project with some of its costs, like shop rental etc.

Under the direction of Sarah and Julie the task tonight was to get all the food out of the hub so that we could give it a good clean and then help get all the food back in, in date order. No mean feat as there is a LOT of food. Using a combination of trollies and good lifting practice we moved all the crates to the outside of the hub where we date sorted a LOT of pasta. Meanwhile inside we vacuumed, mopped, wiped and scrubbed away all the dirt, condensation mould and cobwebs. Now all that was left was to put all the crates back in a date ordered and food categorised way. We all got on top of each other a bit, it was kinda chaotic but after one hour of hard work, order did indeed emerge!

Sarah and Julie were delighted with what we achieved. Lack of man power and time would have made it so difficult for them to do it without our help, and now with a newly scrubbed hub they can carry on with their great work of not wasting grub!

Last night the Brighton GoodGymmers returned to the scene of one of our most satisfying and impressive weeding sessions ever, the aptly-named Lavender Court seniors residence in Kemp Town. How much of an impact we made this time is still to be confirmed, however, as we were trusted (perhaps naively) to work unsupervised in total darkness. But not to worry, at least 50% of the huge piles of vegetation we cleared were actual weeds and we’re pretty sure that the patio and flowerbeds looked a lot tidier by the time we left.

Any residents who happened to be looking out of the window were then treated to the sight of a squat-themed tabata fitness session – a lactic acid overdose that even had Tara crying out for mercy. After completing our smorgasbord of squats we all gratefully ran back to our starting point and most headed to the Bath Arms (shout out to Michelle for organising) to enjoy a catch-up and the unusual yet tasty pub classics.

12 awl-mighty runners cleaned for Brighton Tool Library.

The group covered 3km plus an exercise session.

Grateful the earlier storm had passed, we gathered at Victoria statue in anticipation of cleaning tools ahead. A group run to Kemp Town saw us grind up a favoured Brighton hill.

Arriving we found the task was well organised, with a workstation prepared for each runner and a mix of cloths, scourers, brushes and wipes. Or white spirit and WD-40 for the more stubborn dirt. We learned the goals of the project, to provide low-cost access to tools and avoid waste, and how infrequently the average DIY tool is (not) used in its lifetime.

Then all that was needed was a whirlwind of Good Gym elbow grease to scrub and polish 18 power tools to a shine, from Jigsaws to Planers, Sanders to Angle Grinders, Heat Guns to Hammer Drills, Staple Guns and Snips.

Outside Tara led the group exercise, the group nailed several sets of high kicks and squats, before retracing their route(r) to the start with Frannie as back-marker and the percussion of legs hammering on the pavement.

Not that anyone needs a reminder that the festive season is about to go into OVERDRIVE, the Brighton Santa Bus was in town!

Not to be distracted, ten Brighton Goodgymers met, pleased by the milder but wetter weather. A brief, but uphill, run to the Brigton Community Kitchen where we met Jo who runs the Social Enterprise. The Community Kitchen run a variety of cooking classes to the general public, from curries and dim sum to cakes and guides to nutrition. The money made from these classes go on to fund sessions for those who need life skills to provide a means of supporting themselves.

As always, Jo was very organised with a list of jobs for us to do including; sorting through cupboards and drawers and sanitsing EVERYTHING! With the tunes playing we got a lot done in 40 minutes including a last scramble to sort the measuring spoons and cups (which a few Goodgymers hadn't come across before!)

With the kitchen 99.9% bug free we jogged down to the seafront only to be beaten back by the wind and rain! A quick diversion back in land we set up for our fitness session. For those who missed it, but don't want to miss out we did; 10 step ups (5 on each leg) to improve our glutes, 10 tricep dips to improve our triceps (obvs) and 10 V crunches to improve our core.

Three rounds completed we made our way back to where we started, waving each other off as we went on our ways home.