With light evenings comes the return of tasks in Oxford's green spaces, and one of our favourites is Aston's Eyot. Tucked between the Iffley Road and the river, the Eyot was a rubbish dump in the 19th Century, but it's now a thriving nature reserve managed by the Friends of Aston's Eyot.

Wednesday's task was nettle removal. Scything and pulling the nettles allows light to get through for wild flowers, and removing them reduces the richness of the soil, which wild flowers prefer. This should all help increase the biodiversity of the area. Scything is always a fan favourite at GoodGym, so there were plenty of volunteers for that task. Henry very competently assembled the new scythe, and Axelle did great work pruning back an elder tree which was getting a little thuggish. Some of the GoodGymers were lucky enough to spot 2 muntjac deer on the way home - it's always surprising and delightful how much nature can thrive yards from busy city streets.

Great work team!

Welcome to GoodGym Emma and Ines.

Mrs E was a little tired today, so we had a shorter visit than usual. I helped her look online for a new alarm clock, discussed the hits and misses of the different technologies she’s tried to help with her loss of eyesight. She was pleased to receive the latest Ellie Griffiths book.

This week we made our second trip to Bayards Hill Primary School to help with the progress of their garden. The aim is to have a functioning garden so that the children can learn about the life cycle of plants and understand how food is grown. Armed with various tools and with one eye on some VERY threatening clouds we set to work weeding a huge pile of soil, rescuing some tulips in the raised beds, amassing a petting zoo of snails and assorted other bugs, redistributing some daffodil bulbs ready for next spring and topping up some planters with de-weeded soil. Many hands made quick work and we thankfully finished just as the rain started, it was a soggy run back to base though!

We had a muddy and quite chilly evening at Bayard's Hill primary school getting their garden started.

The school had some raised beds built as part of a wider community project, but the area needs tlc before if can be used for growing.

This week we weeded the majority of the raised beds and most of the pile of topsoil to fill them, as well as litter picking the site.

Next week we'll finish that task and top up the beds with soil. Soon we hope to be able to build paths around the beds to make access and maintenance easier.

Trev RD and Alice Marshaled to help out this week! Here is the run report :

Florence Park junior parkrun

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝟭𝟲𝟯 – 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹, 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗿𝘂𝗻! After a couple of weeks of lower numbers over the Easter holidays, we were delighted to see so many juniors back out and at it this morning 🙌 And in the sunshine too! Well done to everyone who joined us this morning, and a huge thank you to all of the wonderful volunteers who make these events happen every week 🫶 Here are our highlights from the event... 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀: 94 juniors walked and ran two laps of Florence Park to complete their Sunday morning 2km. Add all those laps together, string them together in a long line, and that line will take you from Florence Park all the way north to Rosehill Victoria junior parkrun, where there were 25 finishers at their 101st event this morning 🗺️ Great job everyone! 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀: 9 juniors joined us at Florence Park juniors for the first time and for all of these juniors this marked the start of their parkrun journey – their first ever junior parkrun 🌱🌿🌳 Welcome to the parkrun family! 𝗣𝗕𝘀: 15 juniors achieved new personal best times 🏆 Great walking and running juniors! 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀: Five! Congratulations to... 💙 Half marathon – Evelyn, Phoebe, Theodora 💚 Marathon – Mathilda 🖤 100 – Ronan Don't forget to drop us an email at florencepark-juniors@parkrun.com if your junior is due to receive a milestone wristband - we'll add them to our list to present when you next pay us a visit! 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: 24 wonderful volunteers made event 163 happen 🦺 Thanks to each and every one of you for your support. ⏱️ Austin made his debut in the role of Timekeeper, using the parkrun Virtual Volunteer app to clock juniors in across a busy finish line. Well done Austin - you did a brilliant job! 📱 Phoebe joined us for the very first time at Florence Park juniors, where she's signed up to volunteer as part of her Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. Phoebe quickly got to grips with the parkrun Virtual Volunteer app too, which she used to scan barcodes at the finish area. Welcome Phoebe – we hope you enjoyed your first time volunteering! ⭐ Top Team award goes to our four Tail Walkers, Billy, Leila, Eike, and Artus, who got split up on the first lap when a junior fell over and needed some first aid. Eike and Artus kept an eye on the back of the pack until Billy and Leila caught them back up on lap two. Artus and Billy earned themselves both a volunteer credit and a junior parkrun towards their next wristband! Thank you all so much for your support. If you'd like to learn more about volunteering or get involved yourself, drop us an email at florenceparkjuniors@parkrun.com Thank you for your support 🧡 #loveparkrun

Did the shopping for an elderly lady