Sunday volunteering at junior Parkrun. Marshalling the juniors around the Parkrun course at Queens Park.

Can we join forces with the Tidy Up Team of Brighton & Hove Council, and local community volunteers to make a difference? Yes, we can.

Can we support the Hanover & Elm Grove Community Forum, Hanover Action, and the Phoenix Estate in their weeding efforts? Yes, we can.

Can we help create cleaner, greener, and more welcoming streets for everyone to enjoy? Yes, we can.

Can we come together as neighbours, volunteers, and friends to strengthen our community spirit? Yes, we can.

Can we show that teamwork and care can transform our shared spaces? Yes, we can.

Can we show up energised and leave feeling satisfied ? Yes, we can

The people at the Waterloo Street Community Garden are always pleased to see us, and last night was no different. They put us straight to work cleaning up the space, sweeping away leaves, deadheading, and weeding.

We were armed with sweeping brushes, secateurs, and a dustpan and brush (Tom was doing a brilliant job with that last one!). Charlotte and Sarah even brought their own weeding tools along and put them to great use. We even encouraged a local to join our efforts for a bit, and we gained some great local restaurant recommendations from him!

As the light levels dropped, foot traffic to the nearby Old Market started to increase (Chris Difford from Squeeze was playing, apparently), so we packed up and headed home.

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