On another evening when wind and rain returned to pelt the coast, this week's turn-out from GoodGym Brighton meandered their way towards a cleaning task at the Cardinal Newman School, whose alumni (including its previous iterations) boast one of Queen Victoria's granddaughters and Ann Quin, local novelist whose 1960s experimental Brighton-set novel Berg is known for its almost circular ending.

One of the most distinctive features of the Cardinal Newman School is a circular arrow-tree in its central atrium, a kind of indoor roundabout or static carousel, with signs all around with the demand 'WALK ON THE LEFT'. The GoodGym gang, entering the building after school hours, were of course able to ambulate where they wished as they tucked into tonight's menu of assignments: sweeping/scooping pigeon excrement in an outside breakout area, or scrubbing/rubbing dirty bannisters flanking the school's showpiece staircase. Some might have projected that the outdoor crew had the short straw, but morale seemed to soar as the trio raced through their faecal challenge and posed grinning against the backdrop of a cheery mural saying 'Together'. Indoors, a larger contingent polished off the muck engrained in the stairs' florid black railings and dark wood banisters with an arsenal of antiseptic wipes, while breaking off to admire the photogenic possibilities of a four-floor selfie.

Assembling by the arrow-tree for a reunited full group photo the GoodGym group looked forward to the fast-approaching Brighton Marathon weekend where, in some instances, the rule will be to run on the right, and the potential excitements of a competitive duel in the dirt at next week's task at Moulsecoomb Allotment, though that's something to be dealt with on another evening.

For this week's task, the unique group that is GoodGym Brighton congregated at One Church Florence Road, a place of worship and one-stop shop community venue, for a cleaning mission in their community kitchen. From this kitchen on every third Sunday a meal is prepared for those who are homeless, vulnerably housed or at risk of isolation, which members of GoodGym Brighton are often on hand to support.

The team were welcomed by Stefan who outlined the scale of the task when he revealed that the kitchen hadn't had a single deep clean since the New Year. A wide range of activities were divvied up and the GoodGym squad tackled them all in typical no-nonsense route one fashion: washing/ drying up, rationalising shelves/ pans/ utensils, cleaning ovens/ surfaces/ floors and confronting the fridge-freezer. Hefty items had to be removed from the kitchen and then returned post-clean, including blenders, large bottles of oil and 25kg bags of flour, which provided additional weight training for some. Among the one-off finds in the kitchen was a tupperware tub of lentils used in pastry baking to avert a soggy bottom, familiar to many attempting long runs/ walks in the recent inclement weather.

Capturing the latest one-off moment in the GoodGym Brighton story, the gang posed for the post-task group photo in an adjacent hall often used for a variety of educational purposes, which hosted a collection of xylophones, a paper mache Where the Wild Things Are-esque monster, and an emotions colour wheel tacked to the wall. With Stefan delighted that the kitchen was left in such a sparkling condition the group headed home deserving of a spectrum of happy-coloured emotions including successful, valued and inspired.

In a burst of inspiration, GoodGymer Sam penned this lovely poem. Enjoy the rhymes:

Feeling Complete

Rubber gloves slip snug on my hands, A toilet brush waits for careful plans. Where others groan, I bend with glee, Scrubbing the bowl till it shines for me. The swirl of water, the steady sweep, A rhythm of work both calm and deep. Graffiti cleared, floors bright and true, A quiet craft I can take pride in, too. The scent of cleaner, sharp yet sweet, A fragrance that makes the task complete. Each motion steady, circles tight, Turns hidden corners clean and bright. Some wrinkle noses, some retreat, But here I find the work complete. A task that others choose to flee Brings pride and stillness home to me. So let the gloves embrace my hands, And brushes trace the path I planned. For in this work, both strange and sweet, I find myself, and feel complete.

This report was co-written with contributions from GoodGymers Ben and Sam.

Another GoodGym community mission complete! What next at GoodGym Brighton?

On (yet) another wintry, windswept evening, a doughty team of GoodGymers cruised by trainer or tyre to Brighton's Community Kitchen, a regular on the GoodGym roster, and a key community venue for the Brighton and Hove Community Partnership, the umbrella organisation that also oversees another GoodGym staple task venue Wilding Waterhall, among other initiatives.

The gang were welcomed as usual by Jo, the manager at Community Kitchen, with an efficient checklist of tasks including window washing, pan sloshing and oven scrubbing, ticked off with gusto by the team to the accompaniment of Jo's playlist of upbeat pop classics, including Madonna's 80s Latin-inspired reverie La Isla Bonita.

Offering an oasis of the culinary kind, the Community Kitchen serves up a menu of enticing cookery classes for all, led by local top chefs, with sessions on Goa curries, macarons, and steaks, sauces and stocks on the near horizon. It also delivers a range of community cooking workshops at low/no cost to improve well-being and confidence for people on low incomes, those living with dementia and those with physical/mental health conditions, empowering disadvantaged groups with cooking skills while providing advice on creating money-savvy nutritious meal plans.

The Community Kitchen is also available as a community venue to hire, which GoodGym Brighton made exuberant use of for its most recent Christmas bash, which featured rounds of tricky quizzing and a flotilla of pizzas. As this task fell on Shrove Tuesday, floury treats of a different kind were flipped at the follow-up social, as a contingent energised by Pippa's pancake-themed HIIT session wolfed down stacks at the nearby venue Hope and Ruin, dowsed in maple syrup and ice cream.

A great session to welcome Sam on his first go with GoodGym Brighton!