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!)

Early birds and new coastal defence enthusiasts Rosie, Ben and Ruth made their way to King Alfred's in Hove this morning, to take part in the community litter-pick organised by the Leave No Trace Brighton team. The event was in partnership with Mackley and Van Oord - the people behind the Brighton Marina to River Adur Coastal Defence Scheme which has seen lots of activity on the Hove seafront over the summer; with diggers and dredgers dumping and maneuvering tens of thousands of tons of shingle.

There was a prize for whoever found the 'weirdest' item along the newly expanded beach, but sadly for our GoodGym cohort it was just the usual array of plastic debris. After handing in our haul, we enjoyed a leisurely sunny stroll along the prom to begin our working days.

Leave No Trace are a group of local beach lovers that are campaigning to raise awareness and action to protect our beaches and green spaces. Their aim is to educate, encourage, and empower individuals, communities, and businesses to reduce, recycle or properly dispose of rubbish - so that our beaches, green spaces and seas can be clean and tidy for everyone to enjoy.

Nine GoodGymers headed up to Whitehawk: four cyclists, three runners, and two walkers, taking on some of Brighton's most beastly hills to reach the Whitehawk Community Food Project. Thie project is a community allotment focussed on growing organic fruit, vegetables, and herbs, while giving people the opportunity to learn practical food-growing and land skills, and spend time connecting with nature.

We were there to help create some new no-dig beds for planting broad beans and garlic, as well as clearing the surrounding pathways to make them more accessible. The no-dig gardening method avoids breaking up, lifting, or turning over the soil. Instead, beds are prepared by layering organic matter, like garden compost, directly onto the ground before planting into it.

We got to work shifting and spreading alternate layers of woodchip (which smelt amazing) and manure (which did not smell amazing), gradually transforming the beds. Our hosts, Kerry, Poppy, and Ben, looked after us brilliantly, keeping everyone busy and making sure we knew what we were doing. And it seems our efforts were appreciated. They said:

*"Thanks so much for the GoodGym session at WCFP last night. It was great to meet you all. Your bright energy and hard work was very much appreciated. It really made a difference for us."

We were also rewarded with a beautiful Brighton sunset, and kindly treated to something sweet: matcha KitKats from Sarah, who's swiftly approaching her 50th GoodGym task! A wonderful welcome to Irene and Phil attending for the first time!

Beastly hills, manure, sunsets, and KitKats. Just another GoodGym evening.

What next? HERE's our scheduled GoodGym sessions across Brighton & Hove.

With the late evening sun still shining, we headed north towards Moulsecoomb Primary School some on two wheels and some tackling the 4km run.

A particularly big welcome back to Daniel, returning to GoodGym after a break and, impressively, taking on his first run in a year! What better way to make a comeback than with a sunny run followed by some serious gardening?

Arriving at the school, we were greeted by the brilliant Warren, who quickly got us equipped and pointed in the direction of the evening's tasks.

One group headed into the school's orchard to clear around the bases of the trees, while another team got stuck into pruning and clearing parts of the veg patch. The veg garden was looking especially impressive, with some absolutely enormous sunflowers towering over us a few of them even taller than Ruth!

There was plenty of shearing, grass cutting and general hacking back to be done, accompanied by chats about holidays and summer adventures. As ever, many hands made light work and before long we'd generated an impressive mountain of greenery, eventually packing the compost heap to bursting!

With a little time still on the clock, there was just enough opportunity for some fairly brutal hedge trimming to tidy up another corner of the grounds. The hedge did fight back though, and I managed to finish the task with a literal thorn in my side. Occupational hazard of GoodGym gardening!

With the garden well and truly blitzed, tools were gathered, everything was tidied away and we disappeared off into the fading light for the long run and cycle back into Brighton.

It's always a pleasure to return to Moulsecoomb Primary School and lend a hand with their ambitious nature gardens and outdoor education projects. Another lovely evening of running, riding, chatting, chopping and doing some good.

We met by the Peace Statue and unanimously agreed on one thing before we’d even set off: how is it still this incredibly hot?! Nevertheless, we got ourselves moving and made our way through the warm Brighton evening to our task.

On arrival we met Tom, who welcomed us, showed us the tools and pointed out the areas of the garden most in need of some attention. And there was certainly plenty to get stuck into!

We set to work clearing a huge amount of weeds, with bindweed making a particularly determined bid for garden domination. Many handfuls, armfuls and bags later, we’d brought some much-needed order back to the space, opening it up for residents to enjoy again and hopefully giving them the chance to develop their own green fingers.

As ever, the conversation flowed as quickly as the weeds disappeared. Tom kept us entertained with some fascinating stories, while our very own Jane treated us to a potted history of Arundel Castle and England's Dukedom. We also learnt from Tom about Father Mark and the history of how 58 Cromwell Road came to be.

More importantly, Tom reminded us why places like this matter and of the real difference a welcoming, cared-for space can make to people’s lives. It was lovely to be reminded that, although pulling weeds might seem like a small thing, lending a few pairs of willing hands can contribute to something much bigger.

With a rather less jungly garden behind us, we said our goodbyes and ran off into the still-light, and still very warm, summer evening.

Today’s mission in Brighton took us to assist Mr K and his live-in carer, Ms A. Following an OT assessment, a brand-new, bright blue kitchen chair was ordered for Mr K, who lives with dementia. Flat-pack assembly was required, and with Ms A unable to use her left hand, it was time to break out the toolkit and conquer the IKEA-style puzzle.

What seemed like a quick, straightforward build quickly turned into a battle against factory alignment. A pre-drilled hole and One stubborn wooden dowel refused to sit where it belonged. After a bit of coaxing, realignment, everything finally lined up.

Ms A mentioned that most of Mr K’s previous chairs had met an untimely end—turns out Mr K stands at over six feet tall and gained a bit of healthy weight during his stay in a nursing home! With that in mind, I extra-tightened every single screw to ensure maximum structural integrity against future seating impacts.

Before calling it a day, both Ms A and I gave the chair a full sit-and-wiggle test to confirm it was rock solid and ready for daily use. I advised Ms A to keep an eye on the screws periodically and to reach out to the referrer if the chair ever needs tightening down the road. Mission accomplished.