Five Good-Gymers arrived at the task with an energetic mix of running, walking and cycling to the centre.

Once inside we joined forces to help wrap presents for the Unemployed Families Centre's Christmas party. The room quickly filled with festive spirit.

We were delighted to welcome new members Shivani and Pavel who jumped right in and proved they could wrap with the best of us -literally. Some of us even perfected our wrapping techniques, achieving a rare combination of crisp corners and tape that (mostly) didn't stick to our fingers.

By the end, the gift pile looked great!

All in all, it was a fun festive event that left us all smiling. If only every workout ended with a pile of beautifully wrapped presents! 🎁

Yesterday session was held at the Brighthelm Centre, a well-known community venue in central Brighton that hosts a wide range of social, cultural, and support services and other community-focused volunteering activities.

The main objective was to help out the centre with practical maintenance tasks to improve the accessibility and appearance of the community spaces, currently disrupted by building works that are in progress since weeks. After a warmup tuned by Zumba moves (courtesy of Zumba with Mon), we engaged in a combined sweeping action of stairwells indoors and of leaves outdoors, accompanied by a festive weeds scraping workout of the garden pavements. The grace of Ewan, the building manager, revealed just how meaningful our contribution was to him and to all who benefit from this vital community centre in Brighton.

Yesterday mild night turned to be a bonus, bringing most joy to our GoodGym-ing and chit-chatting about the coming up Xmas GoodGym social events. We welcomed Pavel at his second GoodGym session on a personal mission to do as many good deeds as possible by 2025.

More to come? Plenty!

Peacehaven delivered its usual charm for the Mince Pie 10: relentless wind, rain so fine it hung in the air like mist, and a field full of runners in Christmas costumes who somehow remained cheerful despite looking like festive sponges.

I wasn’t running this time. Instead, I was helping on The Green Runners’ swap-shop stall — a jumble of pre-loved running shoes and kit designed to give good gear a second or even third life. PairUps were also there, showing people how to repair their favourite trainers.

In between gusts of sideways rain, I had a fascinating chat with Darren, one of the founders of The Green Runners. He explained something that feels obvious once you hear it: most of us spend ages finding the right running shoe, wearing it in until it matches our foot and running style perfectly — so why get rid of it after 300 miles just because the industry tells us to?

According to Darren, that mileage limit is more marketing than science. The cushioning usually lasts much longer; it’s the seams, uppers or edges that go first. A tiny, cheap repair kit can keep a favourite shoe going far beyond its “expiry date”, saving money and reducing waste at the same time.

A few very grateful runners came over after the race, soaked and muddy, and left with better-suited shoes from the stall. It was a reminder that community, circular thinking, and simple actions can make a big difference.

Two GoodGym runners popped over to say hello before braving the trails, but apart from them, most visitors were enthusiastic Christmas-clad racers curious about how to run more sustainably.

If you’re wondering what else you can do as a runner, The Green Runners have four simple pillars: 1. How You Move – choosing active and lower-impact ways to get around. 2. How You Kit-Up – buying less, repairing more, swapping, borrowing, and thinking second-hand first. 3. How You Eat – making food choices that support both performance and the planet. 4. How You Speak Out – using your voice to encourage greener habits in your community.

Their story and resources are well worth a look: https://thegreenrunners.com/our-story/

A morning of atrocious weather, Mince Pie madness, and conversations about making running more sustainable — not a bad way to spend a Sunday. If nothing else, it proves that with a bit of thought, we can all extend the life of the things we use and reduce the pressure to constantly buy new.

This morning was wet and miserable, but the dog still needed her walk! When we got to the beach, the stormy seas had thrown up a clear line of seaweed and rubbish right along the high tide mark. Spontaneously, we grabbed the only bags we had (empty dog poo bags, promise!) and got to work. We spent about fifteen minutes collecting what we could, making three trips to empty the haul into the nearby bins. A great little Good Deed done on a grim December day!

This Tuesday, seven of us headed to Brighton Youth Centre again for a task that promised ‘moving fun action’. In GoodGym style, that turned into a full-body workout featuring sofas, cushions, cabinets, giant boards, and several floors’ worth of stairs.

We started by hauling furniture and sofa pillows up those multiple floors, honing our pivoting and manoeuvring skills from the last time we paid a visit. Then came a deep dive into the mysterious workings of power drills as we freed shelves from their wooden casings. We then hoiked the remains into the lift for their journey up to the (busy!) skate park to be repurposed and, by the sounds of it, reassembled(?!).

Outside, in classic UK November fashion, the weather treated us to rain and hail as we battled big wooden boards over to the bins. Sometimes with brute force, sometimes with the saving grace of a rolling trolley.

In between all the heavy lifting, we managed to get lost between floors (more than once), locked out of several rooms (trapping Annette’s beanie hat in one) and learned the increasingly odd system of codes needed to activate different lifts - some of us needing to link them to different historical events to be able to memorise them.

And, during one of the ‘we’re locked out’ journeys down the stairwell to find some help, I spotted a text announcing that my niece had just been born! Definitely a GoodGym mission I won’t forget anytime soon, a ‘where were you when...’ moment for the books :-)

Great work GG-ers - Brighton Youth Centre is clearer and looking better than ever!

A core group of five valuable GoodGym-ers run and cycled to Leach Court – a large Brighton and Hove County Council’s senior residential housing with a communal patio-garden needing some care. New host, known task, great team! The fame of GoodGym Brighton preceded our entrance in the building. Only a few weeks earlier, we were in fact at Lavender House with a “weeding” force of good!

Arrived a Leach Court, we were welcomed by Tony and cheered by the astonishment of other residents lounging in the grand central salotto. “Are you going out there for gardening, REALLYY?? NOW??” – a resident’s question. Our answer: “YEESS! This is GoodGym. We Do Good and Get Fit every Tuesday after our working day and, this evening, we will be shining our torches 🔦 ON 😉 your garden. You are welcome to join us, next spring maybe?!” 😊

We scraped out weeds from the patio pavements, we cleared the pile of green/brown waste from the noticeable non-biodegradable plastic contamination to make it ready for composting, and we swept the autumnal leaves that were invading the most hidden and darkest corners of the Court’s outdoor space. Torch essential to shine on all the Good done all around🔦 😉

The last but not least task of the evening was to make a draw to decide who would represent GoodGym at the Active Sussex Award Ceremony 2025. GoodGym Brighton is a runner-up for the Environmental Sustainability Award! Great achievement all.