“I change my behaviour” “Better in a group” “I have to plan a well-lit route” “Scared” “Goodgym helps to motivate me” “My superpower is fear” “No headphones” “Everyone should feel safe to run at night”

These are just some of the things we wrote on our #LetsLiftTheCurfew flag, as we joined This Girl Can’s campaign to raise awareness of the concerns and fears many women face when it comes to getting active in the darker months.

Together we ran one mile to meet local councillor Tim at our meeting point in Hanover, where we were put to task helping to clean up graffiti, cutting back bushes, and picking up litter. When our work was done, we gathered to reflect on how we feel when it comes to running in the dark. From feeling scared and self-aware, to planning safe routes and not wearing headphones - it was clear that the darker months can make keeping fit more challenging for some of us. However, we all agreed that running in groups like GoodGym really help to alleviate those fears, and we’re super grateful for the safe, friendly, and inclusive community we’ve made together.

For more information on how GoodGym are supporting the This Girl Can #LetsLiftTheCurfew campaign, read the story here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/stories/this-girl-can-x-goodgym

Welcome Charlotte and Mariangela - come back next week!

See WHAT's ON NEXT at GoodGym Brighton!

What is B.fest I hear you ask? Is it what a time-starved cityboy calls the first meal of the day? A tonic wine made by Scottish monks? No! It is, of course, Brighton Youth Festival, an annual youth arts festival with the aim of making arts and culture more accessible to young people.

B.fest 2024 runs from Saturday 26th October to 2nd November in their temporary Gloucester Road site. They are currently in the process of renovating their home on Edward Street and hope to be back there permanently for next year’s festival.

A big group of us made the short jog over to Gloucester Road (plus Ben who decided to make a tour of it and first jog to the old B.fest site!) to help with putting the finishing touches to the venue ahead of the festival. Upon arrival we were directed to the top floor into a big space that is going to be used as a gallery to display all the art on show. The space had already been prepped with wooden ledges all the way around to put the pictures on. Our task was to paint the walls and ledges brilliant white.

In order to preserve our spotless running gear (only the finest for Goodgymmers) we were provided with overalls, shoe covers and gloves. After laying dust sheets and strategically placing masking tape, Sarah expertly removed some pesky screws and then half of the team took paint brushes to paint the wooden ledges while the other half big rollers to do the 2 walls. While that was happening Stefania and Liam went downstairs to help Darryl dismantle a scaffold tower he had used to create a spray-paint mural on one of the outside walls.

We made short work of the walls along with a few extra boards that needed painting for the display and were soon able to pose for an ambitious photoshoot upon completion. The (now) sparkling white gallery has had the Goodgym touch and is ready for the weekends festivities!

Fancy getting more involved with B'Fest? You can, volunteers are always welcome!

Follow us to see what’s on next on our area's calendar.

Brrr! Yesterday was a cold and rainy evening – a shocking return to the English weather for Stefania but nicely warmed up by the greetings of a grand group of Brighton GoodGym-ers ready for action!

We conquered Victoria Gardens by running several loops and alternating running fitness exercises with speeding up legs to keep us warm before leading to our task. But, this was not there available to our surprise! Never minded, and freewheeling, this GoodGym session turned to be a great social gathering at Lord Nelson Pub, where Michelle organised a quiz night for us, thank you!

GoodGym Teams: ”Good-ER Gym-ERs” and ”Great Guys” quizzed the names of cakes and guessed colours by answering multiple (and more) questions, but there is never a black or white answer for everthing, isn’t here? (Tom’s quote 😉)

We welcomed Matthew to join the fun and return to our future group sessions!

Well this summer continues to evade us, with a lovely day turning into patchy rain by the time we set off to Vicarage Bowls club yesterday evening. Luckily the rain didn't last and we navigated our way through the streets of Brighton out to the bowls club.

We have been regular visitors to the bowls over the years but sadly our host informed that this will be the last season the club is in use. After ninety-six years the club can no longer get the support it needs to keep running so will be closing come September.

With this in mind we set to work to make the planting look its best for the club's final hurrah! The main task was clearing a huge bed of overgrown brambles and weeds. All nine of us set to work cutting and pruning out any unwanted intruders. We had soon created a huge mound of debris filling eight bin bags!

With all this hard work on a humid summer's evening our kind host brought us water and biscuits to keep us fueled up. We then continued on clearing the bed, whilst some of us refreshed the path, with Jane in particular wielding her own weeding knife to great effect.

With such a big task we stayed later to try make a larger dent in the bed, skipping the fitness session. After a few photos we all ran and walked back into Brighton. If this is to be the last time we help the Vicarage Bowls Club then it was a great session to go out on and maybe we'll be back in future to help with whatever replaces the club. Thanks for everything VBC!