Squalls well that ends well

The first Monday of September brought us a blustery evening, with squally showers sweeping through during the day. By the time we gathered, the sun had broken through, but the wind was still whipping around and there was a definite autumnal chill in the air.

That didn’t stop my brilliant crew of Paul,Ryan , Gillybean, John, Roxy and Meganfrom teaming up for tonight’s task. Armed with litter pickers, bags, and plenty of determination, we all set off along the beach towards the pier.

The wind had clearly left its mark. The wind whipped across the promenade and litter had been blown into awkward corners. Underneath the pier was especially bad, but between us we got as much done in the time we had. By the end, it was satisfying to see the whole area cleared and looking so much better.

On the way back we took a moment to admire our GoodGym flowerbed which is looking extremely healthy and still not reached its best yet ! It may need a few more weeks before it will be a contender to win the community competition 😀

A huge thank you to everyone who came out in less-than-ideal weather to make a real difference for our community and our coastline.

💪 Great work team – windy or not, you smashed it!

Have a good week.

Julia 😀

💨 Wind, Weeds & a Whole New Look for the Seafront Flowerbed! 🌊

It was an extremely windy evening down on the seafront, but that didn’t stop a hardy team of three GoodGym volunteers from giving a much-loved community flowerbed a well-earned makeover. Check out the before and after photos!

Gillybeanand Paulatackled the task with determination, battling gusts as they cleared out old plant debris and spent bulb matter. Despite the blustery conditions, they worked efficiently to tidy the bed and prepare it for replanting.

The new plants—donated by Nick and delivered by me were a mix of beautiful varieties, all lovingly grown from seed. Once the space was cleared, Gill and Paula carefully planted them in, bringing structure and life back to the space.

Thanks to their efforts and some excellent team watering ,the flowerbed now looks bright, fresh, and ready to face the sea breeze in style. A fantastic team effort in less-than-ideal weather—well done all! 🌱💪

Sunny Skies – A Worthing Beach Clean

On a gloriously sunny June evening, with the sea shimmering and the sky clear, our brilliant GoodGym Worthing crew gathered for a feel-good litter pick along the beach. The golden hour light set the perfect backdrop for a community-powered mission, and the sea breeze carried the cheerful energy of everyone arriving.

This evening’s team included our regularsGillybean , Roxy , Craig, Sue , Megan, and the ever-dedicatedStéphane – sporting a wrist splint but still smiling after his recent accident. True to form, he wasn’t going to let that stop him from getting stuck in!

It was also great to welcome Susan to a Monday night and what a perfect evening for it. However I must apologise for not capturing you on the group photo - I'm not quite sure how we lost you but you and I did enjoy a good chat together.

Armed with litter pickers, gloves, and good vibes, we split into small teams and made our way across the pebbles and promenade. It didn’t take long to uncover the usual suspects: crisp packets, bottles,cans, rogue flip-flops, and even the occasional mystery item best left unmentioned! We all headed under the pier to clear up the usual debris and took the opportunity for a stunning photo ( just a shame Susan isn't in it :(

With the sun still fairy high in the sky, the group gathered once more, bags feeling heavier. Together, we’d cleared a significant stretch of the beach, helping to protect our beautiful coastline and all who enjoy it.

Thanks to everyone who came out and made this evening not just productive but full of happy banter, camaraderie, and that unbeatable GoodGym buzz. Here's to many more sunny seaside missions!

#GoodGymWorthing #BeachCleanDreamTeam #WorthingWonders 🏖️🌞🦀

Following a very brief break after parkrun, five of us headed back down the promenade to take part in the Worthing BID seafront planting. Bringing the promenade alive with colour for both visitors and locals to enjoy.

Sustainability and colour

We were pleased to again be allocated the seafront bed we have been working on for the last few years. A selection of plants were made available to us. Sustainable plants provided by the council, and plants to give colour by the BID. With plants selected, and wheelbarrow loaded, we headed for our bed.

Gardeners Whirled

At the bed, we spun into action. Already full of poppies close to bursting into colour the bed was first weeded and cleared of anything unwanted. With much deliberation about weed or not weed we uncovered enough bare soil to position the new plants to provide colour as the poppies die back.

Water, Water, Everywhere

But not a drop was needed here today. An overnight/early morning downpouring from the sky meant the soil was moist enough to welcome the new planting. If it is going to look good all season though, it will need regular watering. If you are passing by please provide a generous soaking if you are able to.

Mayoral Approval

The new Mayor popped by to see how the seafront planting was going on. It was her first official engagement since her inauguration. We proudly expounded the merits of GoodGym to her - she was impressed!

Volunteering gives you wings

Doing the double today moved one of our GoodGymers out of the Black, back into the Red. Today Sarah gained her wings. 100 good deeds. Amazing! Celebration for this achievement should already be booked into everyone's calendar!

On a freezing night in February ❄️❄️❄️

Massive thanks to my 4 amazing team tonight.

Despite the dampness and freezing conditions El , Roxy, Megan and Paul all turned out to help brighten our seafront prom in readiness for our much awaited Spring. 💐🌹🌸 🏵. This evening we were at our very own seafront flowerbed to plant up some May flowering bulbs.

Luckily a few weeks ago the team had sorted and prepared the bed ready for planting. So tonight, it made our life easy to plant a variety of 150 bulbs. We can't wait to see them come up. Hopefully it will be colourful !

After we finished we went for a beautiful moonlit stroll around the pier and had a great catch up chat.

We all agreed that we were so pleased to have got out and done something good on am evening when it would have been so easy to stay at home in the warm ! Thank you and hope to see you all next week for Barbara's 300th !

Have a great week and stay warm.

Julia xx

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🎵 Oh we do like to be beside the sea side🎵

The biggest decision today was what pun to use as there had been several suggested which made reference to our very special visitor who had come all the way from the head office team in London to join us. Drum roll please 🥁.... Welcome Jack to the sunny south coast 😎 Belinda won the pun competition 👏

*Eat sleep GoodGym Repeat *

During the January challenge its all about clocking up the good deeds and km's and GG Worthing is absolutely nailing it this year. We have already hit our target of 65 good deeds. The target was set to challenge us and had already been increased from last year. This nicely illustrates the commitment and recent growth in our small but mighty area. Well done team. I'm super proud of you all 👏 🏆

🎵 Dancing in the moonlight

Not quite dancing but we did a nice jaunt along the promenade and around the pier! Anne led the runners, consisting of, El, Stéphane Roxy together with Jack and me back marking.

John led the walking group comprising of Mel, Paul, Ricky, Belinda and Paul We all met on the pier for the obligatory group photo 📸 before convening at the GG flowerbed for the task.

Double Good Deeds Tonight we split into 2 groups with the runners off on a litter pick run and the walkers helping with the tidy up of our flowerbed together with other straggly ones along the prom. The runners paired up. Anne and Jack together with Stephane . They were combining sprints with litter pick stops. This was a great way to combine some fitness with keeping the prom and surrounding areas tidy 😇😇

The walkers also paired up with Paul and El and Ricky and Paul who set off along the prom to work on the flowerbeds along the way. Belinda, John and Mel got stuck into the GG bed. Our flowerbed was transformed!

The runners return 2 bags came back with our intrepid runners ( I'm not entirely convinced much sprinting was done 😅) with Roxy and Steph taking the credit for the biggest bag of litter bounty!

We all packed up and made our way back to the starting point where some of us said our goodbyes whilst others took Ricky up on his suggestion .....

And so to the pub

A group of us finished off the evening at The Egremont for a quick drink and chat. It was a great chance to share ideas about GoodGym and parkrun.

Special mention to Belindawho went on a clandestine parkrun last Saturday which was behind lock and key at a women's prison not too far away. She had also coordinated a car full of kit donations which will be vetted by sniffer dogs, washed and then sold for charity to the ladies.

I sped away with Jack to the train station where he had 3 minutes to get himself on the train back to London. It was an absolute pleasure to meet and host you Jack ! As the headline pun says - we hope you will come back more and more ! 😊

Until the next time - have a great week everyone.

Julia xx