I miss the summer, I really do! Don’t you? Regardless, it was such a great pleasure to be running with other 8 brave GoodGym-ers at yesterday's group session. We also welcomed Mariam, who was not discouraged at all but the rainy introduction to GoodGym Brighton!

Armed with rain cover ☔, weeds scrapers🧹provided by the B&H Tidy Up Team, loppers ✂ and other garden tools borrowed from Brighton Borrowers, we joined forces 💪 with a few other brave volunteers from Round Hill: the community hero Rob, my lovely neighbour Josh and the super active Aurelie from the Sylvan Hall Residents Association.

Together, we managed to clear Cat-Creep (ie the long steep stairway connecting Wakefield Road with Roundhill Crescent, where tods are crossing 🐸), a great length of the pathway of Wakefield Road, and the surrounding of the orchard at the East end of Sylvan Hall, which is aimed to flourish as a secret biodiversity spot of this residential estate. Mariam also managed to save cute snails from the green clearance! 🐌

This was a great and fully appreciated effort! Thank YOU all, GoodGym! Thank you also for helping to save good bread loaves and pasties from being wasted. Hope you enjoyed them for dinner 😊.

To the next one, and to the summer to come (hopefully).

What a turn out at yesterday’s GoodGym session together with the Friends of Vale Park. This is a local community in South Portslade, near Brighton, dedicated to improving Vale Park. They want it to be a place where the neighbourhood comes together, enjoys themselves, takes care of the public green space and becomes the heart of the local community.

Historically, Vale Park was a ‘Flint Pit’. In 1917 it was a quarry used for the extraction of sand and flints, and then became a dump. During the First World War the area was used as a training ground for soldiers who built bridges over the water-filled pits. At the south east corner, there was a deep pond fed by a natural spring. It seemed to be a popular place for children to play, to have some great games and excursions there, not without some incidents. Now it is a lovely park with colorful and flowering roses.

The Friends of Vale Park love their park and hope we do too. And we do!

15 GoodGym-ers cycled or ran to the park to help unbinding wonderful roses from the attack of burning nettles and other itching and stinging weeds. With extraordinary results! A great session for a belated celebration of Volunteers Week with some proper “Beerbusiness” at our follow up social gathering in the pub.

VALE PARK GARDENING GROUP is STARTING SOON. You might be interested to know that starting on Sat 28th June at 10 am, and then every LAST Saturday of the month, there will be a new Vale Park Gardening group. It’ll be a great chance to be a part of a lovely community, meet new people, do some gentle exercise in the fresh air and keep those weeds at bay in their beautiful rose beds. Good for the body, mind and soul!

The Friends of Vale Park are looking for a group name for the new Vale Park Gardening group, with “Weedy Ones” getting my vote 😊!

Drizzle Drizzle Drizzle, that was yesterday weather forecast from 18:00 to 20:00.

Rainy days like this tempt us to stay indoors, snuggled up with a warm blanket and a good book. But what if we are told (by the radio, according to Edel) that there are incredible benefits to be gained by heading out into the rain for a workout? That's right – exercising in the rain can be a refreshing and invigorating experience that offers unique advantages for both your body and mind. Exercising in the rain can be a mood-enhancing experience, as the rhythmic sound of raindrops and the coolness on your skin create a calming effect.

And with this in mind, six brave GoodGym-ers joined yesterday GoodGym’s group run session with a double community mission in Hanover and Elm Grove ward. We helped Simon with painting over graffiti at the Phoenix Community Centre and nearly former pub, and others joined Cllr Tim for some litter picking and weeding action close to Wellington Road.

It was certainly a mood- and ward-enhancing experience!

Finally, we made it! We had to cancel and reschedule this session several times due to heavy raining but yesterday evening the weather was on our side and we managed to enjoy our short run to Palmeira Square to help the Palmeira and Adelaide Garden Group to strengthen their community through the gardens, with each volunteer and every event. One blue bag (of green waste) at a time.

We did a green ‘clean and clear’ mission, by “combing” the freshly cut grass from the whole area of the gardens for an hour or so together with Stuart, Adrian, local volunteers and some curious visitors who step up to join the mission spontaneously, or just to play with us for a bit … why not? We bagged 5 big bags of green waste, at least.
Time flew quickly and leaving no room for a follow up fitness session, but the hard work made it up for it!

Before leaving, Stuart invited us to join his birthday garden party on the 8th of June!