Finally, the Sun Gods were shining on ‘Spring in the Patch.’ Six Good Gymers helped support the volunteers from Friends of William Clarke park in the neighbourhood of Hanover and Elm Grove with the set up of this much-loved local community festival, bringing friends, neighbours and families together. On arrival, Sherman, Michael and Amro were tasked with helping to set up the beer tent, tea tent, reflexology tent and a tent over the stage which all took some time. Later Michael was given a particularly satisfying task of chopping wood. Then Liam and Natasha helped set up the fire to roast potatoes and popcorn. Thanks to all the help from the Good Gymers, the site was set up in no time, and several committee members commented how thankful they were for the help and support. The event was very successful, partly due to the weather and the good promotion, with a wide variety of attractions which means with the funds raised, the Patch community festivals will be able to continue. Several of us stayed for the event to enjoy the music, beer, dancing and soak up the great atmosphere of people coming together.

On Earth day, GoodGym Brighton had a creative group session planned on our calendar: helping the Primary School S. Luke in the big build for the Brighton Festival Children Parade.

Groups of local schools have been exploring the theme 'New Dawn' as a way to think about our future. What do we want to change, what do we want to cherish, and what do we want to chuck.

Do Listen Our Voice: We Want to “chuck out stereotypes”!

Our Michelle invited us to push our creativity and see the world differently - inspired by Drew Daywalt’s children book: “The Days the Crayons Quit”.

We did a great job mashing paper sheets with glue on what will represent a box of crayons. They are Duncan’s crayons who quit their given roles to stand up for a better world with a wider diversity of colours.

Before running back, we could not resist to play our way and we turned into kids mode to do some fitness exercises. It was such a fun session and we enjoyed a lot ourselves while climbing like spidermen, hanging like monkeys, and jumping like kangaroos in the school’s playground.

Welcome back Amro to play with us all. Well done all, you all got a “well done sticker“!

WHAT's ON NEXT at GoodGym Brighton?
Plenty to amuse you to join us soon.

EVERYBODY is welcome!

This week we welcomed back Liam from an incredible hiatus in Central America! But sadly we also said goodbye to Pippa, who has become such a big part of the GoodGym Brighton community recently but is heading back to London. I hope the London Goodgyms know how lucky they are to have her.

After some hellos by the statue we headed up to community kitchen- a favourite task of ours where we are always greeted by the ever organised owner. The task started with a brief impromptu rundown on the do's and don'ts of using induction hobs: no one with a pace maker is allowed with arms length of one, and don't drop salt on them - though many of us were dubious about this one!

We also found learned that the kitchen has recently had their funding stopped for their regular dementia cookery group, which had been providing valuable community and structure for people living with dementia. The team have been working hard to source extra funding from various places, and they also have a just giving page, in case anyone would like to support the initiative: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/dementia-food-project

We then divided up the list of tasks between everyone and set about cleaning windows, chairs, stools and cupboards, alongside tidying drawers of kitchen implements. The list seems to get bigger every time we were are there...but we always manage to get through. By the end of the night we were celebrating every task satisfyingly ticked off!

After the task we said our farewells to Pippa, who will hopefully be back for plenty of visits in the future, before all heading our separate ways.

On a personal note, tonight was my 250th good deed with Goodgym Brighton, and one of the best things has been all the lovely people I've met through GoodGym over the years. So whilst its always sad to say goodbye to people I feel very lucky to have had the chance to get to know them. So thanks for being such a lovely group of people to run with!

Fools Spring came and went, and on a colder than expected Tuesday evening 14 GoodGymmers made their way to the BMECP centre - ready to help them keep their communal spaces clean and tidy.

After a tour of the building, we split into groups and got working. Our tasks for the evening included cleaning the kitchens, sorting cupboards, tidying away second hand books (some of which were over 100 years old...!) stacking tables and chairs, and wiping down whiteboards.

Once again, we proved that many hands make light work, and once our job was done a few of us made our way to The Lord Nelson for a post-mission pint and quiz. Turns out we're not just great at cleaning, we're also pretty good at naming popular ice-creams* - earning us 1st place!!

*The question for anyone wondering was what are the 5 most popular flavours of icecream in the UK after Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry? Answers on a postcard please.....