This week, GoodGym Brighton returned for our annual visit to the Brighton Youth Centre to help them prepare for B'fest, continuing our commitment to youth-led creativity, collaboration, and cultural expression across the city.

Yesterday’s fast and furious GoodGym session saw 10 GoodGymers bring plenty of energy and joy to the festival prep. We moved panels, heavy poles, and bamboo canes, stacked up seating, and weeded the yard to get everything looking tidy and ready for the young crowds visiting the venue soon.

We always love visiting the Brighton Youth Centre. As one of Brighton & Hove’s longest-running and most popular youth services, it helps young people thrive through everything from skateboarding and stand-up comedy to dance, D&D, street art, radio, music, and theatre. Run by and for young people aged 13–19, B'fest is the ultimate Brighton Youth Arts Festival. The doors open this Saturday 24th October and run until the 30th of October during half-term, bringing together young creatives from across the South East.

GoodGym is so inspired by what you do! We left the building full of good vibes and are ready to spread the word through leafleting.

Want to get involved? Join GoodGym for another session!

Another mild evening greeted nine GoodGym Brighton runners as they returned to action. This time, we visited the Change Grow Live (CGL) Brighton and Hove Recovery Service at Richmond House, which offers a safe, non-judgemental space for drug and alcohol recovery. Our host, Rita, has been instrumental in creating a green oasis here, and GoodGym was ready to lend a helping hand.

This Tuesday’s mission was to tackle the overgrown bushes in the front parking area. Armed with loppers and GoodGym-hand pruners 😊, we got to work cutting down top branches and pruning them back. To speed things up, we formed an efficient GoodGym "human chain," passing the green garden waste down the line. We were even illuminated by professional studio LED lights—usually used by CGL for video and photography—making it look like a live-streamed production of doing good and getting fit!

After sweeping up the final leaves, Rita invited us to the opening of the "Three Frames" (Object. Person. Place.) photography exhibition. Organized by CGL as part of Photo Fringe 2026, it runs every Saturday in October at Richmond House. The exhibition showcases powerful work produced entirely by service users exploring their personal recovery stories.

Want to get involved? Join GoodGym for another session!

Nine GoodGymers headed up to Whitehawk: four cyclists, three runners, and two walkers, taking on some of Brighton's most beastly hills to reach the Whitehawk Community Food Project. Thie project is a community allotment focussed on growing organic fruit, vegetables, and herbs, while giving people the opportunity to learn practical food-growing and land skills, and spend time connecting with nature.

We were there to help create some new no-dig beds for planting broad beans and garlic, as well as clearing the surrounding pathways to make them more accessible. The no-dig gardening method avoids breaking up, lifting, or turning over the soil. Instead, beds are prepared by layering organic matter, like garden compost, directly onto the ground before planting into it.

We got to work shifting and spreading alternate layers of woodchip (which smelt amazing) and manure (which did not smell amazing), gradually transforming the beds. Our hosts, Kerry, Poppy, and Ben, looked after us brilliantly, keeping everyone busy and making sure we knew what we were doing. And it seems our efforts were appreciated. They said:

*"Thanks so much for the GoodGym session at WCFP last night. It was great to meet you all. Your bright energy and hard work was very much appreciated. It really made a difference for us."

We were also rewarded with a beautiful Brighton sunset, and kindly treated to something sweet: matcha KitKats from Sarah, who's swiftly approaching her 50th GoodGym task! A wonderful welcome to Irene and Phil attending for the first time!

Beastly hills, manure, sunsets, and KitKats. Just another GoodGym evening.

What next? HERE's our scheduled GoodGym sessions across Brighton & Hove.