#fridayheroes Little Beach Boutique @littlebeachbout 9th Oct 2015

Last week my #fridayheroes blog was about Good Gym, this time is about an amazing little shop in the North Laine area of Brighton

They are based at 74 North Road, Brighton

Website www.littlebeachboutique.com

Twitter @littlebeachbout   

Discovered it when I moved into the area, and it is a real treasure trove of goodies

The stand out items have to be the glass work, like below 

But there is so much other cool stuff from jewellery to glass coasters to baby stuff to cool felt slippers (pity they don't make my size!!!) See photos below 

One of my previous blogs was about the importance of the #justacard campaign, so even if the only you buy from here is a card, you helping to support a really great small businesses (you will end up wanting to get more than a card though!)

​And they have a cool dog ​

#fridayheroes @goodgym Blog 2nd Oct 2015

This is the first post in my revamped #fridayheroes series. Now using this blog instead of Twitter it allows me a few more words to express why you should be following these people

1st pick was the easiest, it's The Good Gym, these were the people who laid the seeds of an idea of doing good, which led me to develop Bright Green Penguin

For anyone who doesn't know Good Gym is all about combing keeping fit & doing good by completing tasks such as digging up the soil, clearing weeds etc

It is based on 3 things: Group Runs, Solo Runs to Your Good Gym Coach, & Special Missions 

I first found out about Good Gym, when it was just a small group of runners, with a base from York Hall, Bethnal Green. My first group run was 14th Feb 2011. Now it has expanded all over London, with runs in Islington, Camden, Brent, Lambeth, Hackney & many more (and I'm sure they have plans for even more). There is also Good Gym Bristol

See Good Gym blog post from 2011 about the group runs we did

http://www.thegoodgym.org/blog/page/3/

The main thing for me, the reason why I think it is so important org to follow & support is because of the Coach Runs

The Coach Runs are runs where you are paired with an isolated elderly person, who is your coach. You then run to them on a regular basis, to check on them to see how they are

I was paired with Millie, an isolated lady based in Whitechapel. When I first saw her, she was in hospital for a short period of time. Then I ran weekly to her house, where at first it was just a quick hello but as the friendship developed with Millie, you can tell she wanted to chat, she loved to chat so would end up spending at least 30 mins or more chatting. I would sometimes drop off fruit sometimes on my run but Millie always made me take an orange home with me

These coach runs were the highlight of the week for me, the reason to run & I can't underestimate the impact on my life this had. So it was a really sad thing when Millie passed away, especially as the last few months of running to her was when she was back in hospital & not responsive. I still talked to her, no idea if she could hear me or not, but I hope she could & that provided her some comfort & joy

So I really recommend Good Gym, as it is gives you a real reason to run. The group runs are fun, great team working 

So many great memories, so it was with sadness I had to stop doing Good Gym when I came down to Brighton, but there are potential plans for one down here & that be amazing 

if you interested in knowing more check out  

www.goodgym.org

Final fun facts  

Because of Good Gym, I got to appear in Runners World Magazine, be interviewed for Japenese TV & appear on live radio show to talk about the Good Gym

Thank you Good Gym

#fridayheroes

In Feb of this year I started up #fridayheroes on Twitter where I highlighted the great work done by people I followed. I picked people who inspired me, who work has a positive effect be it charity related, community based or creative.

I did this for quite a few months but over time I felt limited by the number of characters Twitter allowed me, didn't really allow me to express why I picked them. So I sort of slowed down & stopped picking people

 That feels like such a missed opportunity so I'm going to start it again, starting it next week. I will be posting each Friday, people, companies, initiatives which do good, which inspire people, help improve our environment  

I also want it to be a more personal thing, what about it makes me want to pick it, how does it inspire me. I want #fridayheroes to be both your story & my story. I also want it to be interactive, what to hear your positive stories about these #fridayheroes how they helped you. 

Thank you