A dedicated team of GoodGym volunteers headed to One Church this Sunday to help out in the kitchen for their weekly community gathering. Our mission? To prep a massive, comforting feast of vegetable and beef stew to feed the local community.

The shift started as a trio, with the three of us arriving sleeves rolled up. Because the head chef was arriving a little later, we had to make a few quick executive decisions just to get things moving and prep stations set up! Once the chef arrived, the cooking officially kicked off, and our trio officially upgraded to a four-man band. From there, the quartet got straight to work at the chopping stations.

There was an absolute mountain of fresh produce waiting for us, but we sliced, diced, and chopped our way through bags of carrots, potatoes, onions, and seasonal veggies. With the vegetables prepped and the beef ready, everything went into the giant simmering pots, quickly filling the kitchen with the rich, mouth-watering aroma of a hearty Sunday stew. It was a fantastic, high-energy session filled with great conversation and brilliant teamwork.

A good day for a GoodGym session.

A small, yet mighty group of 7 GoodGymers ran and cycled to Vale Park in Portslade to do one of the more favourite tasks, helping out Friends of Vale Park with their glorious rose beds, which are dotted all over the community Park.

We spent time weeding the rose beds, and doing some dead heading in order to try and promote autumn blooms before the winter draws in.

The turn of the seasons was very evident, with dusk closing in and a slight chill in the air by the end of the task. We had built up a good pile of weeds and made the roses look their gorgeous best again.

After the task the team walked and jogged the short distance to the Foghorn pub for a well deserved social, and to celebrate Ruth's 50th good deed!

Join GoodGym Brighton for another session!

How many cigarette butts can you pick up in just 15 minutes? ⏱️

That was the challenge thrown down by our host, Melanie from The Green Centre Brighton, when the GoodGym and Active Sussex crews teamed up at The Level this past Tuesday.

Even though it started pouring right at 1pm (classic British weather! 🌧️), everyone rolled up their sleeves for the Green Centre’s Green Spaces Programme. The mission? Show some love to our local park and clear out as much litter as possible.

In just a quarter of an hour, every single volunteer bagged between 75g and 100 g of cigarette butts, with Mac leading the charge! It might sound like a small dent, but it’s a massive win for Keep Britain Tidy's Cigarette Butts Are Rubbish Campaign. Believe it or not, cigarette butts are the UK's biggest litter problem, with an estimated 2.4 million of them dropped on England's high streets at any given moment, despite a decreasing number of adults who smoke regularly.

In total we collected 14.54 kgs of litter.

General waste: 7.37 kgs (incinerated at Newhaven recovering energy to create electricity) Aluminium Cans: 0.86 kgs (weighed in at Richardson's scrap metal yard) Plastic: 1.29 kgs (recycled) Glass: 5.02 kgs (recycled) Cigarette butts: 1,250 Kg - this was rounded down slightly because everything was wet. (included in general waste)

This hands-on GoodGym community mission was the perfect way for both groups to put their eco-goals into action! GoodGym aims to make a positive environmental impact by combining exercise with conservation tasks that increase biodiversity and green spaces. Similarly, among their core actions since signing their Environmental Sustainability Commitment, Active Sussex are embedding eco-friendly practices into daily operations, engaging local sports networks, and advocating for better access to quality blue and green spaces.

Taking part in this park clearance was the perfect opportunity to "walk the talk." By maintaining and improving the city's green spaces, we help ensure these vital areas remain clean, safe, and welcoming places for everyone to get outdoors and stay active. 🌿🏃‍♂️

Active Sussex, you are welcome to join us again anytime!

Today was my first mission with Miss E, who needed a helping hand with her grocery shop due to some ongoing health conditions. Equipped with her trusty cat-patterned shopping trolley, I set off for Aldi to tackle her list!

The task itself was fairly straightforward, as most items were standard supermarket brands, though it took a little close attention to make sure I got the exact packaging details and quantities she asked for. Almost everything made it into the cart, with just two exceptions—a specific flavor of hummus (caramelized onion) and cotton buds were both out of stock.

Miss E was very grateful for the assistance and expressed that she would love to have ongoing support with her shopping. I advised her to reach out to her referrer to set that up, and reassured her that our strong team of GoodGymmers will always be ready to step in whenever help is needed! Another successful trip in the books.

On a humid Sunday morning this runner took up what is becoming his usual spot marshalling the kids at the top of Queens Park and cheering them on to the finish.

The humidity was getting to everyone with runners coming by in dribs and drabs but they all had big smiles on their faces.

After wrapping up at the top of the park i moved down to the finish to cheer on the remaining runners before a quick pack up with the rest of the volunteers and off for a well earned coffee.

Back at Miss V’s place for round two, and today was all about knocking out a whole spree of handy tasks! I started warm-up mode by changing out a lightbulb—easy peasy, no sweat at all. Next came a collapsed shower caddy shelf; it took a little tinkering to figure out its tension mechanism, but I got it firmly wedged back in place. From there, I tightened up a wobbly wooden toilet seat, replaced some rusty old screws on the letterbox, and reorganized the precious real estate on top of her wardrobe so we could clear away some living room clutter.

The grand finale was the real boss fight: hanging a second vintage framed photo right beside an existing one. Since picture hanging can be a bit tricky, I carefully measured and marked the wall to ensure the new screw would align the two matching frames flawlessly. Thank God, the drill hit the mark—they ended up perfectly level and neat! Another super satisfying mission in the books.

(Note: The photo featuring the frames uses an AI simulation to protect Miss V’s privacy!)