BUY - FIX - RIDE - DONATE YOUR BIKE

Brighton Bike Hub is a volunteer-run Community Cycle Workshop, off Brighton’s Lewes Road, working to reduce waste and enable members of the community to access affordable cycling.

Today, GoodGymers Michael, Richard and Stefania supported a horde of regular Brighton Hub volunteers to replace a tired out old tent roof over the Lewes road workshop.

First, we had to shift all the bikes out of the workshop to give us all some space. The old roof was then "raised" and with the help of some ladders, and old bits of wood removed from the frame. A shiny new roof was then unfolded and with the same tools and plenty of pulling stretched over the frame.

We had a good bit of time left so we squeezed some old inner tubes between the frame and the tent, put some prices out on the repaired bikes and got the group photo sorted.

Many hands made light work and we left the hub before the night and rain set in!

Next time in spring we will volunteer to bike bikes! We are already exited.

A grand welcome was given to new members Sarah and Stefan at yesterday GoodGym’s session at the Fitzherbert hub helping the Real Junk Food Project.

A running stroll on the seafront and high knees step ups the stairs enriched our fitness session on route to the venue. And once there, … surprise! We found some construction work-in-progress but, regardless, the unstoppable Brighton GoodGymers managed to clean safely all the exposed surfaces, swept and mopped all the floors in a blink of an eye, by equipping themselves with helmets – not these ones not 😊, but yes indeed with all the available brooms, brushes, dust pans, backets and mops!

We also extended the job to the neighbouring Brighton Table Tennis Club to make our cleaning session more fulfilling. It was a grand group, so with no surprise we finished off everything very quickly to get ready for the follow up entertainment: The Quiz night at the Kempt pub.

Yesterday afternoon the sky cleared just on time to provide us with good conditions for our autumnal gardening session at Manor Paddock, one of the senior residential housings that we served in Brighton & Hove. As usual, resident Luc welcomed us well prepared and massively thankful for the GoodGym superpower offered – without which the job would take him ages to do!

Several were the tasks needed, all done within less than an hour at the light of our powerful (more or less) headtorches! Planting bulbs, reshaping lavender bushes, weeding scrubs, collecting foliage, pruning buddleias and taking care of tomatoes plants’ beds.

Whom's running, whom's easy pacing because a doggy knee or cycling because of a stiff back pain (me, sigh!) … all we came and went off in full action!

Something to add to my gardening culture: Buddleia, also known as butterfly bush, is a perennial, semi-evergreen plant. Once it has flowered, it only loses its foliage for a short period of the year. The flowers of a buddleia generally appear from July to October. It's a robust shrub but can quickly become untidy if not pruned, with the flowers appearing so high that only the butterflies can enjoy them. Annual pruning keeps it in shape and helps produce more flowers, lower down.

Let’s see the results of our “pitch-perfect” buddleia pruning and lavender shaping next spring, shall we? 😊

GoodGym anti-tagging missions are like a “Tug of War” between the residents re-imaging their city without graffiti on the street walls and the artists (or sort of) making them.

Brighton GoodGym was in Hanover and Elm Grove ward this Tuesday to tackle street graffiti, again!

Armed with brushes and rolls, magnolia and brilliant white paints, we tackled unwanted graffiti in Melbourne Street and Pevensey Road, bringing lots of satisfaction to us all and especially to a local resident who was very pleased and thankful offering us tea and biscuits. An invite to return here, as we probably will.

But for now, job done. NOW WOW!

Graffiti tagging is one of the engagement theme of Re-Imaging Brighton & Hove to shape the future of our city together. This is a Brighton & Hove council initiative engaging all, especially young people, to share experiences, hear ideas and turn ideas into action to help deliver the Council Strategy Plan for 2023 to 2027. The first appointment is on 21st November, at 6pm at the BMECP (Black and Minority Ethnic Community Partnership) Centre.