Last Saturday, a window of gorgeous sunny weather gifted us with an amazing landscape view on Brighton Sea from the top of SheepCote Valley! Not surprisingly, this attracted a reasonable group of enthusiastic volunteers and four GoodGymers, including new member Olivia, Lucia and Hannah to help parkranger Lindsay with the conservation of East Brighton citypark. Lindsay’s engaging enthusiasm is contagious, and we always have a great deal of fun altogether!

Who cleared brambles, who cut overgrown branches, who piled up green waste, who burned those collated twigs, woods, branches, and dry leaves by keeping fires well controlled …. And who, like me 😊, had a first time to unstrap overgrown bramble’s (almost tree) roots by using a tree hoper – new garden tool! Exiting.

After running the parkrun, I felt all the effects of such a green workout, but it was well worth it. I also found out that in Autumn those nasty hedgerow brambles produce berries that can be harvested to produce a good taste gin!

A group of Good-Gymers jogged two miles up an incline to Cardinal Newman School. Meeting the rest of the group there! After we found the entrance we were met by the care taker Pedro who showed us the school gym which needed cleaning. We welcomed two new members Olivia and Hannah and welcomed back Daniela who quickly got stuck in.

Looking at the school website we were in the St Augustine Building which also has a climbing wall - a nice one to discover next time!

We donned gloves and got to wiping and dusting the pretty dusty gym equipment. Some of us who were good at multi tasking managed to use the running machines and clean! We had fun on the balance board. We were impressed with their moto use your muscles not your mouth although we definitely used both!

After we finished up we jogged up a hill to The Dyke Alehouse to enjoy a drink and some chips. Nice meeting here Lucia too!

This past weekend, Brighton GoodGym-ers have been running or volunteering while engaging their heart with their friends Susan and Joel in Mind.

We are big fans of Parkrun and are always keen to lend a hand.

Bevendean Down is known for its amazing views and challenging climbs. It is a smaller Parkrun but with a loyal following.

Myself, Stefania and new member Lucia helped out the other volunteers.

We all enjoyed cheering on the runners including Doug another Goodgym friend. Stefania and Lucia joined forces to do the important role of timing the run and the runners. While I scanned barcodes. We had stunning views of menacing clouds and a rain shower which just missed us.

We headed to Bevy Community Pub for a well earned breakfast. There we chatted to other runners and browsed the community stalls.

GoodGym sessions, parkruns and races like the Brighton Half are not just great ways to challenge ourselves and support our fitness goals, but also provide an opportunity to come together and remember friends like Susan and Joel, GoodGym-ers who sadly lost their lives.

Massive thank you to everyone who supported the fundraiser for Mind.

We’re fundraising for Mind because their work supports people like Susan and Joel, providing mental health information, advocacy, and peer support. Since the pandemic, the demand for mental health services has been increasingly overwhelming, and charities like Mind are doing essential work to help keep up.

If you’d like to donate, you can still do so here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/brightongoodgym-halfmarathon2024?utm_term=MqPB5rDjy