Last Tuesday's GoodGym Brighton group run was in safe hands thanks to Task Force member Frannie stepping up to lead— thanks, goodness! From afar, I watched the Brighton crew run and cycle through a mild spring day to FareShare Sussex & Surrey. They tackled a mix of distances for a session that was, mysteriously enough, described as a "Crime Scene."

It was a "very smelly but satisfying" session for “Team Cabbage”! 🥬😊 [GoodGymer Christophe's quote]

The next day, FareShare host Steven reached out to share a huge thank you with the crew. He praised the GoodGym Brighton team for being "splendid and stoic" as they tackled the messy job of decanting rotting cabbages into trays.

Unfortunately, Ben and Ruth had to "hip-out" of this one—missing out on all the smelly fun! 😉

It was a tough, thankless task, but FareShare Sussex & Surrey couldn't be more grateful for the help. Even though everyone’s phones were tucked away to stay clean during action, I managed to track down a group photo of the heroes who solved the Case of the Cabbage Patch.

What else did we miss last week? 😊

Let’s not miss out the opportunity to run and team up together at some of the coming up events.

In case any of you wish to participate with and fundraise for FareShare Sussex & Surrey there are still places on both the Brighton 10K, on the 12th April, and on their new venture covering 48 miles cycling from Guilford to Brighton. You can find more information about both, here.

There is also a last call for our 10K “plogging” (run-walk-litter pick) relay alongside our GoodGym Brighton Marathon runners. Sign up NOW here for this community mission in partnership with Green Runners and Leave No Trace.

On an evening where a sea fret had drifted in to take the edge off a scorching day, half a dozen GoodGymers coasted up Lewes Road to the FareShare warehouse in Moulsecoomb, the Sussex branch of the national organisation tackling food waste.

The team was welcomed by Steven, Partnerships Coordinator at FareShare Sussex & Surrey, who gave an outline of the organisation's breadth of activity and engagement in the region (it works with around 250 charities and community groups) and a thorough briefing on the assignment of sorting donated items into crates to give to those homes most in need of support. He explained that the current summer school holidays (along with Christmas) was one of the main pinch points of the year for those households experiencing food insecurity. Steven was already familiar to some, having completed this year's Brighton Marathon weekend 10k in 1hr 20 by dancing the route in a gold onesie, and he shared experiences as a choreographer and dancer including 15 years with Ballet Rambert.

Steven masterfully choreographed the GoodGym team, who all donned hi-vis jackets and steel capped boots, as they sorted a variety of long-lasting tinned and dry food items evenly between crates, including a lot of pasta, cereals and rice, and many cans of fruit, vegetables, curries, meatballs, ham and fish. Food had to be inspected to ensure it was still in date; the record out-of-date discovery was a Loyd Grossman bolognese sauce jar with a 'best before' in 2016.

Steven applauded the flurry of activity that saw the team complete 70 filled crates of food (a total 700kg) to be delivered to help some of the local struggling households; 28,000 people at risk of food poverty access food every week from FareShare in the region. With an estimated 1 in 7 households in the UK experiencing food insecurity (1) against the backdrop of the UK having the sixth highest GDP in the world, the need for more fairness and more sharing is high. FareShare are reliant on different streams of volunteer support, and GoodGym Brighton vowed to return soon to support this essential local organisation.

(1) https://foodfoundation.org.uk/initiatives/food-insecurity-tracking#tabs/Round-16