Today was GoodGym's second tree planting session at Ockwells Park. Again we were delighted to meet lots of new people - a very warm welcome to Kelley, Milena, Joanne, Alain, Catherine and Krys! And again Amy welcomed the group in Christmas fancy dress following a 5km run in aid of GoodGym's December #Magpies150Challenge. Today's run was with Lara the elf and Mrs Christmas (also tree-planter) Juli and prompted lots of friendly waves and smiles from the residents of Cox Green. Read more about the challenge and join the fun here...

On today's 1km walk to the planting site we had the extra challenge of carrying the spades through the mud, but we all made it without mishap and, as ever, it was wonderful to escape into the green expanse of Ockwells.

We met Ranger Tom at the planting site and he gave us a quick demo: stick the spade in, move it about a bit to make a gap, grab a whip, stick the roots in the gap, cover the roots with soil, stick a cane in next to it, curl a plastic tube around it to protect it from the rabbits. Done! And as long as we put thornier varieties like Buckthorn and Blackthorn near the edges to offer some protection, then we could plant the rest (all native species like Willow, Maple, Elder and Oak) wherever we liked within the deer fence... Bizarrely, this was the hard part. We are not used to being given such freedom! We stood there for a minute getting used to the idea that we didn't need to conform to a particular shape or pattern and then we got stuck in.

As we worked, conversation flowed happily, trousers got muddier and time flew. We estimate we planted around 180 trees out of the 1000 targetted for this year. Added to what we did on Saturday GoodGym are now up to about 320. Well done team!

Introducing the project to us at our first session, RBWM Countryside Manager Jason Mills explained that the site where we are working is between two areas of ancient woodland - Thrift Wood, which is accessible to the public from Ockwells Park, and another area privately owned by the neighbouring turf farm. The long-term plan is to fill in the gap between the two, creating a corridor of wonderful biodiversity-boosting, oxygen-giving, carbon-absorbing woodland to benefit generations to come.

Creating a woodland is by no means quick or easy. The trees planted last Winter did not thrive due to the incredibly dry Spring this year, and we know that it will take decades if not centuries for the new wood to resemble the older areas. However it was heartening to hear from Jason that the benefit to wildlife will be felt far sooner. As soon as the saplings grow leaves in the Spring they will provide food and shelter to creatures like caterpillars, butterflies and moths, which will have positive ripple effects.

It was hard to tear oursleves away from such an enjoyable task, but the departure was made more attractive by the opportunity to climb over the big fence on our way out. A big thank you to Kelley, who showed us a new and far less muddy route back to the car park on our return journey, and kudos to Alain, who was the only one to run home after the morning's efforts. Well done everyone!

We are back at Ockwells for more tree planting next Thursday. Sign up here! And watch this space for more tree planting sessions in the New Year...