12 GoodGymmers came together this week, including first timer Miran - welcome Miran! On foot or with pedal-power, we made our way up the short but oh-so-steep climb to the Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project (BUCFP) where we were greeted with a mountain of bedding that had been donated, and that needed sorting into sizes so that they can easily be allocated to those in need.

After some time deliberating over the difference between single, double or king sizes (check out the photos for the answer...) we made fantastic progress - sorting, folding and storing hundreds of sheets, duvet covers, mattress protectors and pillows in just half an hour.

The Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project provides practical support, education, advice and much more to those in poverty, in poor living conditions, benefit claimants, the unwaged, pensioners, families and those on low incomes and suffering social exclusion and poor wellbeing.

This Tuesday, 10+ of the GoodGym Brighton crew ran, cycled and walked over to Lavender House for a full perimeter clear-up. Headtorches on, we weeded, detangled and plucked our way through the edges of the building, filling up multiple wheelbarrows for compost and giving the outside a noteworthy November glow-up.

Jane had a moment of magic finding a red admiral butterfly and having it stay still on her hand long enough for a photo and a video. A flash of summer in a little bit of a November drizzle!

Also on this week's GoodGym Brighton’s wildlife watch: an honourable shout out to the many ‘bench bugs’ we had to yank coats and jackets away from, and a healthy, stocked-for-winter looking worm. Christophe’s ‘bright’ idea to light our group photo with headtorches gave us a more sinister, ghostly energy than our normal group shots, but it’s not been too long since Halloween so I think we got away with it.

Weeds tackled and all equipment returned, a few of us ran over the road to the Sidewinder for some burritos and much-needed trail run chat.

This week GoodGym Brighton returned to its annual appointment with a community mission at the Brighton Youth Centre in their shiny newly refurbished venue in Edward Street.

The rings under the eyes of our host, who welcomed 13 GoodGymers at the door, showed the clear signs of tiredness on his face due to the long working days of moving from 94 Gloucester Rd. But the arrival of our GoodGym volunteer-force turned those rings in a big smile of immense gratitude! We managed to move three massive cabinets, a wardrobe, a sofa, a fridge, 10 drums, and several heavy speakers in the record time of less than 30 minutes! It was ‘super cool’.

We love to visit and help Brighton Youth Centre. This partner organisation is one of Brighton & Hove’s longest running and best-used youth services in Brighton & Hove, helping Young People to thrive all their best creativity - from skateboarding to stand-up, dancing to D n D, street art, radio, music, theatre and more. B'fest is the Brighton Youth Arts Festival run by and for young people, 13-19 years old, and this Saturday 25th will open the doors for the first time in the new venue until the 1st of November during half term, bringing together young people from across southeast to celebrate all things creative and cultural. GoodGym is inspired by you!

We left the building with good vibes and in good terms, with the agreement of a return sometime again during the winter.

Welcome new GoodGymer Katie. I trust you will be back soon GoodGym-ing together with your new active friends in Brighton Area.

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This week, 12 GoodGymmers made their way to One Church on Florence road, to help them clear space for a community compost to be installed. One Church Brighton is a broad and inclusive church, who do lots of different activities in and around Brighton, from worship to running community cafes, and putting on events.

6 of us braved the run up Ditchling Road, while others made their own way via bike or walking - all of us arriving to a warm welcome from out host (and very own GoodGymmer!) Michael, and Danny from local skincare company My Skin Feels - whose generous donations are funding the new composting site, which will be used by the local community.

After collecting some rather serious looking tools, we all got stuck in clearing an old flower bed and leveling the soil. Although our enthusiasm quickly waned as we discovered just how difficult removing a tree from the root is 😄. Liam, Euan and Frances did a fantastic job digging and sawing until eventually the bulk of the tree root gave way.

Whilst some of us were busy playing lumberjacks, others set about clearing the church walls and flowerbeds from weeds and litter, ensuring the space looked it's very best for the community who uses it.

A big welcome this week to two first timers to Brighton GoodGym, Jorge and Tristian. We hope you had fun and that we'll see you at another task soon :)