Yesterday, six magnificent Brighton GoodGymers ran up to Lavender House for a weeding blitz. The sun was out, and so was our appetite for destroying invasive vegetation to help the local retirement housing community thrive.

A massive GoodGym Brighton welcome goes out to Douglas, who joined us for his very first session! Douglas jumped straight into some intensive gardening, proving himself to be an absolute natural.

Meeting at our usual spot, we kicked off the evening with a brisk group run up the hill to Kemp Town. It was a perfect leg-burner to get everyone’s heart rates up and muscles primed before diving headfirst into the physical task. Upon arriving at Lavender House, the crew was greeted by Nial with the massive task of tackling fast-growing "idle weeds" creeping along the perimeter. Armed with garden tools and plenty of enthusiasm, we split up along the property boundaries and fanned out across all edges of the building.

Working at a blistering pace, the group cleared pathways and gravel borders in just 45 minutes. The result: 100% of the building’s edges were completely transformed, leaving the outdoor space beautifully tidy, safe, and accessible for the residents. It was an incredible display of team efficiency, proving once again how much a small, dedicated group can achieve in under an hour! We packed the tools back into the shed, thoroughly enjoyed drinking some refreshing water with squash to rehydrate, snapped a quick group photo, and headed off on our well-earned cooldown run back down the hill.

Yesterday, we ran 5km to the Preston Park Velodrome to support the Brighton Bike Hub — a brilliant volunteer-run community workshop. 🚲 They make cycling affordable by offering free tool access, DIY repair spaces, refurbished bike sales, and adult cycle training in and around Preston Park.

Our GoodGym group session mission? To tidy and paint their 20ft shipping container, transforming it into a clean white canvas for an upcoming mural artist!

The Bike Hub mission? Reducing carbon emissions, improving air quality and making our streets more people and planet-friendly, while getting around more cheerfully. They are also committed to enabling those on a low income to enjoy the benefits of cycling.

Did you know that nearly half of people in Britain spend more than 18 hours a week on the sofa – yet 70% say they want to be more active? Timely, today, British Cycling launched Sofa to Saddle to get the nation active – a free eight-week programme to help more people discover the joy of cycling. The benefits of getting started are significant. Research shows that people who cycle at least once a week are 37% more likely to feel good about themselves, while 79% say cycling helps clear their head and 58% feel calmer and more relaxed.

By making cycling more accessible and supporting people to take those first pedal strokes, Brighton Bike Hub contributes to Cycling UK mission to enable and inspire everybody to experience cycling's joys and benefits, and to British Cycling ambition to help one million more people get on their bikes by 2028, creating healthier, happier communities across Britain.

This GoodGym session and organisation are close to my heart. It felt rewarding to help others get a Good addition to their active travel journeys.

Book a training with BikeHub here: https://brightonbikehub.org/training-sessions/

Download Sofa to Saddle here: britishcyc.cc/sofatosaddle

Join GoodGym for another Good session!

This Tuesday, a group of runners, walkers and cyclists arrived at Stanmer Organics to lend a hand to the Centre of Ecotherapy CIC, the home of a brilliant community sauna and a healthy dose of eco-therapy. We welcomed new GoodGymer Rib, Rebecca.

We split into two teams on arrival. One tackled levelling and compacting a patch of ground for a future yoga and meditation tent, plus some enthusiastic branch-lobbing. The other went full nettle-ninja, clearing paths ahead of a kids' visit so no one will come away stung.

Liz, who runs the site, was clear on the house rules: nothing gets chopped back more than it has to. Nature's in charge, the odd branch to the face will just keep us humble.

In between tasks, there were rake-dropping reaction tests, grasshoppers landing on hands, and marjoram identified (delicious smell!).

Task complete, we had a very generous feast of cold courgette and broccoli soup (Liz went to lots of effort to cool it down in this heatwave, thankfully), bread, hummus, hot cross buns, cake, and watermelon. We finished by launching the watermelon rinds into a compost bucket from a distance. In GoodGym fashion, only slightly competitive.

Stamner are throwing open the gates for a public open day of lots of their projects on 25th July. Worth a look! https://stanmerorganics.com/2026/06/23/stanmer-organics-open-day-2/

In 2 hours we chopped enough onions and carrots and cabbage for a venison stew to feed 50-70 people tomorrow. We also mixed 30 eggs with 2kg of butter, 1.5kg of sugar, and 1.5kg of flour for a massive sponge cake. Not only that, but we efficiently composted the peelings, fried the veg in massive pots and cleaned up to leave it tidy afterwards! The stew was left stewing in the capable hands of master chef John. Thanks for all who helped!