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.

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!

Today we combined our October parkrun meet up at the Bevendean Downs parkrun with a community mission helping The Bevy pub’s gardener Dave with some autumnal gardening.

It’s that time of the year GoodGym is often called to help planting bulbs. We helped Dave to clear the big planters to be ready for some bulb-ACTION to spread colours and a little joy next spring in the outdoor lounge of the pub.

We love parkruns! Today was a lovely day for our 5K parkrun-ing up there, with Philippa & Rosie as time keepers and 10+ participating GoodGymers. It possibly goes without saying, but parkrun really isn’t about running at all - despite it’s name - it’s really about community cohesion, wellbeing and the coming together of the community. Pretty much like Good-Gym!