Early birds and new coastal defence enthusiasts Rosie, Ben and Ruth made their way to King Alfred's in Hove this morning, to take part in the community litter-pick organised by the Leave No Trace Brighton team. The event was in partnership with Mackley and Van Oord - the people behind the Brighton Marina to River Adur Coastal Defence Scheme which has seen lots of activity on the Hove seafront over the summer; with diggers and dredgers dumping and maneuvering tens of thousands of tons of shingle.

There was a prize for whoever found the 'weirdest' item along the newly expanded beach, but sadly for our GoodGym cohort it was just the usual array of plastic debris. After handing in our haul, we enjoyed a leisurely sunny stroll along the prom to begin our working days.

Leave No Trace are a group of local beach lovers that are campaigning to raise awareness and action to protect our beaches and green spaces. Their aim is to educate, encourage, and empower individuals, communities, and businesses to reduce, recycle or properly dispose of rubbish - so that our beaches, green spaces and seas can be clean and tidy for everyone to enjoy.

So, GoodGym Brighton did its first plogging session on our Brighton seafront!

When Darren from the Green Runners called GoodGym Brighton for some plogging action, I immediately responded with great enthusiasm and, soon after, I had to search for the meaning of the term “plogging” 😊.

*Plogging is an eco-friendly fitness trend that combines jogging or brisk walking with picking up litter. Originating in Sweden around 2016, the term merges "jogging" with the Swedish phrase "plocka upp" (pick up). It is a global movement aimed at improving personal health while cleaning up public spaces and natural environments.

On a beautiful, rescheduled Tuesday morning on the 17th of February, I joined 25 fellow community members and friends from Active Sussex, teaming up with Leave No Trace Brighton and The Green Runners to protect our favourite running routes. This is all part of the London Marathon Events mission to make the Brighton Marathon weekend more sustainable. Let's keep our seafront clean! 🌊🏃‍♂️

We had a fantastic time at this community event! Our high spirits even caught the attention of BBC South East News, which featured our beach clean in their recent coverage.

Now, GoodGym Brighton is assembling a team for the Green Team relay, organized by The Green Runners. We’ll be taking on 10K legs alongside the main marathon runners on April 12, plogging the entire 26.2-mile route to ensure we leave Brighton better than we found it! 🏃‍♂️🧹

To get involved, sign up on the dedicated GoodGym community mission HERE.

#Take3ForTheSea is a global big movement behind a small idea that promotes a simple good action: Take 3 pieces of rubbish with you when you leave the beach, waterway or anywhere and you can made a difference!

Plastic pollution is killing wildlife, devastating oceans and threatening the health of our planet. Plastic is a material designed to last forever that we often use only once. All poorly managed plastic leaks ultimately into the sea.

Through GoodGym participation to this event organised by LeaveNoTrace, we can all make a big difference by inspiring others to do the same!

Make a pledge today and remember to #take3forthesea the next time you're at a beach, waterway or even underwater! Whether it's 3 or 300 pieces you have made a difference.