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.

This Tuesday, a group of runners, walkers and cyclists arrived at Stanmer Organics to lend a hand to the Centre of Ecotherapy CIC, the home of a brilliant community sauna and a healthy dose of eco-therapy. We welcomed new GoodGymer Rib, Rebecca.

We split into two teams on arrival. One tackled levelling and compacting a patch of ground for a future yoga and meditation tent, plus some enthusiastic branch-lobbing. The other went full nettle-ninja, clearing paths ahead of a kids' visit so no one will come away stung.

Liz, who runs the site, was clear on the house rules: nothing gets chopped back more than it has to. Nature's in charge, the odd branch to the face will just keep us humble.

In between tasks, there were rake-dropping reaction tests, grasshoppers landing on hands, and marjoram identified (delicious smell!).

Task complete, we had a very generous feast of cold courgette and broccoli soup (Liz went to lots of effort to cool it down in this heatwave, thankfully), bread, hummus, hot cross buns, cake, and watermelon. We finished by launching the watermelon rinds into a compost bucket from a distance. In GoodGym fashion, only slightly competitive.

Stamner are throwing open the gates for a public open day of lots of their projects on 25th July. Worth a look! https://stanmerorganics.com/2026/06/23/stanmer-organics-open-day-2/

On a sunny but chilly Tuesday evening, 12 GoodGymmers made their way up (and up and up...) to St Luke's Primary School in Hanover, for our annual task of helping to get the props ready for the Children's Parade, which kicks off the Brighton Festival.

This year the parade is themed on the National Year of Reading, and the children of St Lukes chose the book "The Cave Baby" for inspiration - complete with a giant mammoth puppet. However, we kept our hands dry from papier-mache this time round, and were instead tasked with cutting out as many paper leaves as possible - to be used for the children's cave baby costumes.

We were given a blue-peter style demonstration by our host Lara, and after a hunt for left-handed scissors and some ingenious card-folding - we set about drawing and cutting.

We posed for a quick photo proudly holding our leaves (points to our lovely first timerDerek for creativity) and then headed to the park to share some delicious homemade Tiramisu to celebrate our own Stefania birthday!

Last Tuesday's GoodGym Brighton group run was in safe hands thanks to Task Force member Frannie stepping up to lead— thanks, goodness! From afar, I watched the Brighton crew run and cycle through a mild spring day to FareShare Sussex & Surrey. They tackled a mix of distances for a session that was, mysteriously enough, described as a "Crime Scene."

It was a "very smelly but satisfying" session for “Team Cabbage”! 🥬😊 [GoodGymer Christophe's quote]

The next day, FareShare host Steven reached out to share a huge thank you with the crew. He praised the GoodGym Brighton team for being "splendid and stoic" as they tackled the messy job of decanting rotting cabbages into trays.

Unfortunately, Ben and Ruth had to "hip-out" of this one—missing out on all the smelly fun! 😉

It was a tough, thankless task, but FareShare Sussex & Surrey couldn't be more grateful for the help. Even though everyone’s phones were tucked away to stay clean during action, I managed to track down a group photo of the heroes who solved the Case of the Cabbage Patch.

What else did we miss last week? 😊

Let’s not miss out the opportunity to run and team up together at some of the coming up events.

In case any of you wish to participate with and fundraise for FareShare Sussex & Surrey there are still places on both the Brighton 10K, on the 12th April, and on their new venture covering 48 miles cycling from Guilford to Brighton. You can find more information about both, here.

There is also a last call for our 10K “plogging” (run-walk-litter pick) relay alongside our GoodGym Brighton Marathon runners. Sign up NOW here for this community mission in partnership with Green Runners and Leave No Trace.