A grand welcome was given to new members Sarah and Stefan at yesterday GoodGym’s session at the Fitzherbert hub helping the Real Junk Food Project.

A running stroll on the seafront and high knees step ups the stairs enriched our fitness session on route to the venue. And once there, … surprise! We found some construction work-in-progress but, regardless, the unstoppable Brighton GoodGymers managed to clean safely all the exposed surfaces, swept and mopped all the floors in a blink of an eye, by equipping themselves with helmets – not these ones not 😊, but yes indeed with all the available brooms, brushes, dust pans, backets and mops!

We also extended the job to the neighbouring Brighton Table Tennis Club to make our cleaning session more fulfilling. It was a grand group, so with no surprise we finished off everything very quickly to get ready for the follow up entertainment: The Quiz night at the Kempt pub.

As part of Brighton & Hove TAKEPART Festival of Active Living, Brighton Goodgymmers participated in a group session organised jointly by our friends from Brighton Table Tennis Club, Real Junk Food Project and the Catholic Parish of East Brighton at the Fitzherbert Community Hub.

Thirteen of the best Brighton Goodgym gang showed up and we welcomed not one, not two but three first time participants: Majed, Nick and Irene.

The session also falls on Refugee Week a festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. Brighton Table Tennis Club (BTTC) has become a Club of Sanctuary, welcoming refugees and asylum seekers since 2016 and Brighton Goodgym has always had members very passionate about supporting people from all backgrounds and participating in events and walks welcoming refugees and others to our lovely city.

Personally speaking as a third generation refugee; someone who was born with a piece of paper instead of a passport as a form of identity I think sometimes we tend to forget what the word Refugee means. Refugee is defined as a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. But the definition tends to forget the human tragedy that comes with the fact that a human is called 'Refugee'.

Being a refugee means that somehow you no longer have a home but at the same time everywhere is home!

You are welcomed by many but the voices of those who dont want you are louder.

Governments don't know what to do with you, it feels like wherever you go you carry with you oversized luggage that exceeds the 'allowed' limit.

If you are having too much fun in your new 'home' you feel guilty because of those who couldn't have the same opportunity, if you end up closing up on yourself to heal your wounds then you are labelled as anti-social and failing to integrate in the society.

You do your best to learn the language of your new home but when you do you realise that you missed out on a history of social references that you have no idea about. Like what is Eurovision? Who is Kate Bush? What is Rhubarb? and dont get me started on sayings and expressions, when I first heard 'The Writing on the Wall' I was looking around to see who and where they scribbled on the wall!

But then when you take a moment and look around you and see your fellow Goodgym people in their red Goodgym tshirts playing table tennis, laughing and feeling jolly after they have completed the voluntary session of sweeping, cleaning and weeding...you realise...that you are home...Brighton is home :)

Today I received a magazine about Artificial Intelligence (AI). Being an overthinker, I couldn't stop thinking about one question: Can AI take over my job in the future?

Making my way to the Goodgym task I started feeling the anxiety building up, thinking how can I cope in an ever-changing world. As soon as I reached the Goodgym meeting point and was welcomed with friendly faces, my worries were suddenly on pause.

Thirteen Goodgymers braved the cold today and made their way to The Fitzherbert Community Hub that has recently opened its doors and we met Katherine, the newly appointed manager, who explained to us about this multi-partners endeavor and what help was needed by Real Junk Food Project in their venue for tonight. We all started sweeping, mopping, cleaning tables, arranging cups and there's always a few that did more chatting than cleaning!! (not naming names but do check the photos for evidence!).

We were done quickly with today's task and Angela had the great idea of having pancakes since its Pancake Tuesday! So we made our way to Munchie's Craft in the Laines where the owner was kind enough to keep the cafe open till late and served us delicious pancakes ! We took over the whole cafe and ordered sweet and savoury pancakes and some waffles by mistake! Some opted for fancy cocktails for the gram.

It was a fun social and as we said our goodbyes, I went back home with one thought in mind; AI can and will probably take over my job in the future, but it will never be able to take over the sense of joy and contentment of completing another Goodgym task :)

I asked ChatGPT (An AI platform that is taking the world by storm) to write a rap song about Goodgym and here is what it came up with! I let you be the judge of who raps better wink wink

It's Pancake Tuesday and the crew's all here,

Brighton GoodGym in the house, let's make it clear,

Lace up our sneakers, we're on the move,

Gonna help the community with a groove.

We sprint down the road, with a purpose in mind,

Helping the elderly, leaving no one behind,

We shovel snow and rake the leaves,

Making the neighborhood shine before we leave.

We finish the job, time to celebrate,

But we're not done yet, it's time to create,

A stack of pancakes, fluffy and sweet,

To enjoy with friends, while we kick up our feet.

We sit down to eat, with smiles all around,

Good food, good company, in a great town,

Brighton GoodGym, Pancake Tuesday,

A day to remember, in every single way.

Brighton GoodGym, we're the ones to beat,

Pancake Tuesday, let's get to the street,

We'll run and help, no task too tough,

We'll get it done and never enough.

Well, well, ... really well astonished we were to find out how shining still was the upper floor that we cleaned two weeks ago. Well, well, ... really well done Good Gymers! Easy job done, then!? Ehm, what about those hidden corners, skirting, stair wells, toilets, and windows, and cabinets, and...
Heigh-ho!! There is always something more we can do to help the Real Junk Food Project in the Gardener community Cafe' so centrally located in the heart of the Brighton North Lanes. So, more we did!! A fantastic group action of 11 Good Gymers with the (user-) friendly support of "Henry" (The Hoover) turned this cafe' in a never-ever-been- so-clean one.... almost :-) Congrats Liam getting his first good deed with Good Gym Brighton! And, welcome backJack and Will who relocated from London already thinking how to join Good Gym coached runs to visit an older person in Brighton.

Sadly, visiting Jcand Geraldine have announced that their “life in Brighton” is ending soon, but there is a promise of “Au revoir’ cake at our next Tuesday session:
Sign-up now to reverse a bite ;-) https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/moonlight-litter-picking-in-brunswick

On Tuesday a bumper group of 14 runners braved the cold weather to help the Real Junk Food Project in their community cafe. Meeting at our usual spot we made the thankfully short run up to the cafe. At the cafe we met Doug who was attending his first Goodgym session! It was great to see such a big group and new faces despite the plummeting temperatures!

We were all grateful to get inside out of the cold and get started on the cleaning duties. We split up all the tasks across both floors which included hoovering, wiping, moping, sweeping, tidying and just about any cleaning job you can imagine! With so many of us we made light work of all the jobs and had plenty of time to have a catch up in amongst the cleaning. Alongside Doug we've had a new few new faces so it was nice to get to know everyone.

Afterwards a few of headed back to the start but most of us ran off into the night and back home to get warm! Hopefully next week will be a bit warmer so please sign up here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/school-superstars

With the nights drawing in, we met for an indoor task in central Brighton, where the Real Junk Food Project rescue good food from going to landfill and serve it in their pay-as-you-feel cafe, The Gardner. Armed with Cillit Bang and yellow cloths, we got to work cleaning all those awkward areas that get missed in routine cleans: under tables, behind radiators, and along skirting boards.

Jason put in an admirable effort cleaning the scuffs off the main staircase, while Jane purposefully dealt with the downstairs tables. With such a great team on the task (and Barry Scott on our side), we made short work of the dust and grime, and left the cafe looking its best. The Real Junk Food Project are planning to open a new venue in November, and we're looking forward to helping out there in future!

Our fitness session tonight involved a unilateral bicep workout, thanks to an impromptu social down at the Fountainhead, where some runners sampled their first mulled wine of 2022. Yes, winter is coming, but there's plenty to look forward to for Brighton GoodGym, including weekend trail runs and a Christmas social on the cards. See you out there soon!