GoodGym anti-tagging missions are like a “Tug of War” between the residents re-imaging their city without graffiti on the street walls and the artists (or sort of) making them.

Brighton GoodGym was in Hanover and Elm Grove ward this Tuesday to tackle street graffiti, again!

Armed with brushes and rolls, magnolia and brilliant white paints, we tackled unwanted graffiti in Melbourne Street and Pevensey Road, bringing lots of satisfaction to us all and especially to a local resident who was very pleased and thankful offering us tea and biscuits. An invite to return here, as we probably will.

But for now, job done. NOW WOW!

Graffiti tagging is one of the engagement theme of Re-Imaging Brighton & Hove to shape the future of our city together. This is a Brighton & Hove council initiative engaging all, especially young people, to share experiences, hear ideas and turn ideas into action to help deliver the Council Strategy Plan for 2023 to 2027. The first appointment is on 21st November, at 6pm at the BMECP (Black and Minority Ethnic Community Partnership) Centre.

This week we ran to Hanover and Elm Grove to help keep the streets clean ✨️ Weeding and painting were the order of the day, with the team splitting up to conquer multiple tasks.

Jane and Georgia got to work clearing the pavement alongside a church, while Stefania and Ben tackled the ever prolific bindweed in the flower beds. Meanwhile, Juliet and Sarah got to work painting over graffiti tags, Sarah having made the smart move of wearing her painting clothes. Some of us had less foresight, and now have fun new patterns on our trainers... 🙄

After reconvening (with a little help from Michael who managed to join us post commute) we headed to The Level for a fun speed workout! We worked on accelerating the pace and building endurance by running progressively faster laps with no breaks 💪 We also plotted the GG Brighton Christmas Party, and learned the importance of standing on one leg while we brush our teeth 😁

Thanks everyone for a great session, and look forward to seeing you next time.

Brighton’s topography may not have been the inspiration for Kate Bush’s classic track, but our hills are remarkable in both number and steepness. Great for some challenging and rewarding running sessions!

10 GoodGym-ers tackled not one but two of Brighton and Hove’s most challenging hills. The group split our efforts between parallel street clean-up tasks, supporting groups in Hanover and Roundhill to paint over graffiti tags and pick up wind-blown litter to encourage others to keep the community tidy.

Striding up the sun-drenched lawns and splitting off to our separate sites, we were joined in our mission by a crew of local residents and councillors and cheered on by many passers-by as we paint rolled and litter picked our way around the neighbourhood.

Or, to paraphrase the prescient words of Chamillionaire:

They see me rollin’

We painting

Patrollin’ for litter making town less dirty...

Brighton and Hove City Council helped by supplying paints and brushes for painting over graffiti in the Roundhill and Lewes Road area. Good Gym volunteers did sterling work sprucing up the area!

We finished with a fun, increasingly fast paced training session around the Level led by Pippa and were rewarded with slices of still warm chocolate beetroot cake (yup, one of our five a day! :) ), as part of Stefania’s extended Birthday Celebrations. Buon compleanno, Stefania!

Arriving, as usual, Bright-on-time, four GoodGymer’s ran at pace, to assist Cllrs David, Steph, and Elaine with challenges in the culture-rich Hanover and Elm Grove area of the city.*

Our suspense as to whether we would be weeding; picking-up the theme of the recent litter mission; or instead be painting the good paint in our generally magnolia (occasionally white, veering silver ⚓) battle against graffiti was promptly ended when requisite decorating equipment 🎨 was Hannover-d.

Before provoking ire on a public platform, it’s important to note we are talking about street art of the significantly less developed variety (see before photos) rather than the wonderful, artistic, murals appreciated by many that adorn so many walls of our 🏳‍🌈 city, a little montage of such examples included in the photos.

Needless to say the threatened showers meant an entirely different type of (rain-coat) hooded vigilante plied the (cough, ever gentrifying and certainly not mean) streets of Hanover and Elm Grove in a graffiti-focused state of mind… GoodGymer’s! Jane in particular took great care to make sure there were no stones on the roller for the derelict pub’s makeover - setting the bar Farrow & Ball high for the finish expected on these missions 😂 Certain others, however, simply ended up bouncing, climbing, and covered in budget emulsion 🙈.

In a task that can sometimes feel like a forth bridge job 🌉, one highlight was preparing a very visible wall with a base-coat for an “urban nature” (we can’t wait to see it!) themed mural on Elm Grove (a street with it’s own song )

Today’s weather wasn’t entirely compliant with Stefania’s recent efforts to incentivise us all 🥳 with reminders of longer and brighter days ahead, following the recent arrival of British Summer Time ☀, but still we counted our blessings! As those here in 2008 will confirm Sometimes It Snows in April.

Here’s hoping Rob, Frannie, and Michelle are all fighting fit very soon 💪, and to Amro we wish Ramadan Mubarak ❤

Han’over to our next scheduled session, the BM10k this Sunday, keeping our eyes peeled 👀 to offer the visiting GG’ers a warm welcome 📣 … and hoping for good weather, especially fair winds - for both the brave folks spectating, and all the GG runners staying warm by running.

*Some quick ‘cultural trivia’ for the regular pub quizzers amongst us - this area, otherwise know as ‘Muesli Mountain’, receives a direct shout out by none other than Spear of Destiny - never know when this question might come up! 🤷🏼‍♂).

Amazing report written by Jason. Thanks.

Tonight was a good night for a little bit of everything with a variety of tasks from Cllrs Elaine and Steph. With David, the three Cllrs are the Community Custodians for the Hanover Ward; a colourful area of Brighton between the city centre and the Universities.

Armed with gardening gloves, litter pickers, paint and rollers, we split into pairs and small groups to cover as much of the Ward as possible. Due to Hanover's location, it can attract antisocial behaviour and so, by keeping the area tidy and painting over the graffiti, the community can try to prevent this happening on their door step.

Welcome back to Diego who showed real attention to detail and surface preparation before painting. He really put myself and Cllr Elaine to shame! Rob and Sarah also armed with paint, returned Cllr Steph covered in paint! I can only guess you guys worked efficiently and slapped that paint on!

Jane and Pippa went on a rubbish hunt with litter pickers, leaving the rest of the gang to tackle the weeds and rubbish outside the Alms Houses (a never ending task!)

With all the tasks completed there was just enough time to do two fast laps of The Level based on feel rather than technology. Remember the secret to running fast, is to run.... fast....

Following the immense heat of last week, Brighton Goodgym meet on a much milder evening that even looked to threaten rain... Luckily we were spared any real down pours AND we welcomed new Brightonian Hannah! Hannah is no stranger to Goodgym having run with Slough before moving to the south coast; welcome to Brighton!

This week we were artfully covering graffiti tags that plague the Hannover part of Brighton. Cllr David had us all organised as ever, with the strategy of divide and conquer!

Enroute to the Percy Wagner buildings we dropped off Juliet and Philippa at the Phoenix Gallery to meet Simon to cover some tags behind the Pheonix Community Center.

Rosemary and Diego, not wanting to get covered in paint (wise choice, I'll be brushing it out of my hair for days!) accompanied Cllr Steph to the top of Elm Grove to help with some weeding that the council hadn't managed to get to. Bonus kudos for the both of you for the extra mileage AND hill running!

Those of us that were left roamed in 2s and 3s in the local residential streets to erase the tags we saw. Some of us were approached by local residents who cracked jokes and thanked us for our efforts.

Once we had all gathered back on The Level it was time for some dynamic stretching to help with our mobility. If anyone would like a professional description and explanation, please out this video. Its a great way to start a run and get the most out of it!