“Remember, remember! The fifth of November, The Gunpowder treason and plot; I know of no reason Why the Gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot!”

The Lewes Bonfire Night, #LewesBonfire, is the most famous Bonfire Night festivities, with Lewes being called the bonfire capital of the world. A remembrance of history evolving mainly from the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and Guy Fawkes (Guido Fawkes) and the Seventeen Martyrs burnt at the stake in Lewes, Sussex during the period of 1555–1557. It also remembers the Protestant Reformation in 1517, which was a schism from the Catholic Church. Nowadays, #LewesBonfire features a ‘free expression’ of local problems or any reasons of grievance, which will be blown up at the end of the processions by the five Lewes Bonfire Societies, culminating with a magnificent fireworks display!

This year, I decided to join the Bike Train from the Level to Lewes Bonfire - A fun festive ride organised by Brighton Bike Hub and Cranks, with music, at a gentle pace, promoting sustainable transport initiatives of the 'Lewes Road for Clean Air' community group with the aim to increase the uptake of cycling and enable a shift away from car dependency.

Bike Train’s marshals, Sarah, Gav, Maria and Stefania encouraged other GoodGym-ers, including new comers Patrick and Amanda, to join the fun by offering their help and budding up each other as well as other less confidents cyclers, and so by creating a safety-in-numbers environment for everybody to take part!

It was a great experience – Très Bon! Very GOOD, GoodGym!

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.

13 GoodGym-ers braved the incoming dark night to run along the Lewes Road at rush hour to Stanley Court, which is a YMCA supported accommodation.

We were last there in spring to help clear the small back yard area and to create a useful open-air space for gardening and other recreational activities for the residents. Over the summer the dreaded bind weed has made its presence known again so we were clearing the back yard, cutting back, pulling weeds and getting rid of the bind weed.

We also did some litter picking in an alley way next to the court, where lots has been abandoned in years. It was a real adventure to navigate in the poor light, but we managed to do the job.

A familiar face joined the team for the first time in Brighton - Welcome Jo!

We all made a big difference in a small area, and this is very satisfying!

Hoping that the little garden thrives over the winter.

Afterwards we jogged along to the Level Park to do some speed training, watched on by the ever-present skateboarders.

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Despite the weather was not on our side, Brighton GoodGym-ers were fully lined up to run and happily gather at the Waterloo Street Garden for restoring the original charm of this cute street garden, between Old Market Theatre and Waterloo Street.

A few weeks ago, the Friends of Waterloo Street Garden called for Brighton GoodGym ’s help! The recent garden dis-adventure, due to an act of bad-behaviour, had deeply upset the regular users of the garden, when they found several big plants ripped in half, terracotta pots smashed, and benches turned over. Any little helped to tidy this all up! Including the arrival of enthusiastic Brighton GoodGym-ers ready to help out on a wet day – to their surprise (or not) 😊!

Yesterday turned to be a ‘fast and furious’ group session grabbing a window of less rain and limited daylight to plant bulbs in the pots to flower joy back into the garden next spring. Friendly chit chatting among GoodGym-ers and Friends of Waterloo Street Garden seemed to have already resumed the unique magic of this lovely open air street ‘salotto’. We might wish to pop in again this coming Saturday for their workshop of watercolour painting – weather dependent of course 😊