Summer is here, it's official! 13 Good Gym runners met to run and walk up the steep hill to Brighton Unemployed Familes Project. We celebrated Pippa's 50 good deeds in her absence and welcomed new member Michael . Oranganised by Sarah, this seemed a simple task at first but proved deceptive. Joy from Brighton Unemployed Families Project told us the project had been running for 42 years and provided practical support, education and much much more to local families. Recently one group of families had 13 different languages between them! It was a lovely large space that backed on to Tarner park. Our task was to sort the many donations of baby and children's clothes. First it was suggested we sort by type of clothing, then by gender but then mother-to-be Catherine suggested by age. This proved the winning formula and our team made good progress. We were amazed by the end of the session that we had sorted at least half of the clothes. And there were some very cute clothes including baby sleeping bags and an elf's costume! The other team had to take many boxes up to the top floor where there was more room and also were very successful in sorting the clothes, although I think by the end of it some of us were going a bit ga ga !

Brightly coloured play equipment A pond to dip into Spring flowers A handmade pizza oven Teeming raised allotment beds

These sights faced the intrepid few after a breathless stride/ride up a freshly asphalted hill to Carlton Hill Primary school.

After some brief checks for frogspawn and newtspotting, hands were gloved and the team divided like a shamrock to tackle three tasks in one. The strong hands of Alpha team cleared the pizza oven surrounds in preparation for upcoming proud cooks at the summer fete. The green fingers of Bravo team weeded the allotment beds - soon to be planted out as an educational project with the littlun’s. And with secateurs, graspers, bold feet and the thoughtful (if damp) hands of Charlie team, brown stems and green mats of pond overgrowth were plucked, snipped, and lifted so the 4-11 year olds could get excited about the prettier parts of nature and have a chance at spotting the fortunate few tadpoles still on their way to frogdom.

Of course - once the lucky trefoil had reunited we all wound down in GoodGym style using every inch of the kids’ playpark for dips, push-ups, balances and mushroom-hopping japes. Smiles on dials all round, with an iridescent cloud formation to keep us marvelling at the beauty of nature on the way home too.

Since our ancestors used to hunt for food, Brighton Goodgym decided that little rain ain't gonna stop us from helping out in the Spring in the Patch event at the William Clarke Park.

Juliet and Amro (I know! If I was called Romeo that would've been so cool but I'm Arab!!) showed up on a rainy Sunday morning to help the Friends of the William Clarke Park set up tents, carry some band equipment around, roll out some carpets and just get the Patch at the park ready to welcome neighbours and visitors to enjoy what the Spring in the Patch offers.

It was not just volunteering and hard work, we also got to enjoy amazing tunes from a local band, savour some tasty food from Ma Jah Ma, Oui Creperie and others, sip some cold and hot drinks, sharpen up our archery skills and much much more. It was an unforgettable Sunday filled with love and joy surrounded by friendly people.

I encourage everyone to get involved in this event next year.

William Clarke Park, better known as The Patch, is a public park in Brighton, England, which was opened in the late 20th century. The park has a sports area, which contains a basketball hoop and a football goal, a children's playground and a pond among other things. It can be accessed by paths from Hartington Road, Picton Street and Franklin Street

William 'Nobby' Clarke was a local councillor and secretary of the Brighton Labour Party during the '60s & 70's. He was also Brighton Mayor for a time. He campaigned to turn the site of the old Kemp Town railway into a recreation ground for the benefit of local children & residents in the Elm Grove & Lewes Rd areas.

In a twist of events, Sarah made a last minute entrance and helped with the take down and enjoyed the vibes as well and met a very floofy cat too.

Well thank goodness our task this week was indoors! The April showers were definitely out in force!

We were welcomed by Jo from the Community Kitchen, a fantastic organisation who host cooking classes to fund Community events for those with Additional needs, dementia, or maybe inspiration to make their food budget go further. Highly recommend you check out their classes on their website.

Jo, ever organised, had a list of chores ready for us to tackle through out the kitchen including antibac-ing, cleaning and sorting! With so many of us in attendance, we got the lot done in no time!

The Cat Creep is a secret shortcut between the upper and downhill residential roads in the Round Hill Ward, well known by its residents. Unlike some of the other Cat Creeps in Brighton, this one was initially wider and named Lennox Road in readiness for houses to be built along it. However, this plan was eventually abandoned: Lennox Road was just too steep for coaches to negotiate!

Nowadays, if you’re on the Cat Creep after dark, don’t be surprised if you see someone with a torch apparently staring at the stairs. From February to April, a group of local enthusiasts counts toads and newts as they migrate from one side of the cat creep to the other to mate. So, we did. We counted at least 7 tods at our passage! This greatly hopped GoodGymers up to undertake the group mission that involved the distribution of more than 150 copies of the local newsletter, “The Round Hill Reporter” to the residents of the ward, especially those who can't or don't want to be online, so they can hear all about the latest news in the area. It was a blast, so we had plenty of time for a fitness session hopping up the stairs together with the tods – indeed, using our phone and head torch to avoid stepping on them – and some sprint runs up hill. The second Tuesday of the month is Brighton GoodGym’s social night, and we concluded our evening with a Quiz Night to socialise at a local pub.