A clear and crisp start to 2023 saw 7 Good Gymers venture down to Magdalen College to take advantage of Addison's Walk and the Fellows Garden being open. We walked the length of the ground and spent some time looking at the college's herd of deer. A hearty brunch on the High Street was a lovely way to start a new year! Looking forward to many more walks in 2023!

This evening we ventured to Botley to blitz the inevitable litter hotspots that build up and hide under the autumn leaves

A slightly chaotic start due to gridlock traffic necessitated chats about the weather and crisp sandwiches (always a good idea).

Once all were present and correct the garland of joy was presented to our newest and most unofficial member Miss Penelope! Thank you Julia for bringing her to meet us all!

We set out lights and litter-pickers in hand to tackle a few grot spots and amassed a large mountain of bags before our time was up. Items found ranged from the depressing (sharps, dealt with safely) to joyous (£10 given to Ben to take to the Halloween quiz), and the inevitable pants!

You are all wonderful and apologies again for my late arrival and stressful witterings!

Welcome to Goodgym Anja and Steve, we hope to see you again soon!!

The GoodGymers came in 2 by 2,
Hurrah, hurrah!
The GoodGymers ran up 2 by 2,
Hurrah, hurrah!
The GoodGymers biked in 2 by 2,
The Aoife and the Shati too,
And they all went into the Ark-T for to clear up human poo.

The GoodGymers came in 3 by 3,
Hurrah, hurrah!
The GoodGymers ran up 3 by 3,
Hurrah, hurrah!
The GoodGymers biked in 3 by 3,
With secateurs ready to lop holly leaves,
And they all went into the Ark-T for to cut brambles and weed.

The GoodGymers came in 4 by 4,
Hurrah, hurrah!
The GoodGymers ran up 4 by 4,
Hurrah, hurrah!
The GoodGymers biked in 4 by 4,
Emily waiting to open the door,
And they all went into the Ark-T for to pick litter and sweep.

Singalong here.

Last night a group of intrepid GoodGymers set off on an expedition to the frozen North of Oxfordshire desperately seeking their fortune in apples. Scrumping poles, litter picks and tarpaulins at the ready, they were a veritable trail of Dick Whittingtons.

Alighting in Lower Heyford to a warm welcome from the hardy locals they set to work filling their boots (crates) with apples from the heavily laden trees. With plenty to go around competition was not fierce, and team work prevailed between the ground crews and climbers. Various iterations of 'shake the branches of the tree and catch the apples in a tarpaulin' yielded 580kg of apples in a mixture of cookers and eaters. In a win for the Health and Safety executive (but a loss for science?) no-one got hit on the head by a falling apple Newton-style. Shona the unicorn-esque horse seemed happy to have company for the evening, and while the possibility of a ladder-based disaster was ever-present it never actually materialised.

The Cherwell Collective will be giving half of the apple haul to the Oxford Food Hub for distribution to various local food banks and larders. Some of the rest of the apple harvest will be turned into chutney by the Wonky Food Company and sold to raise funds for Cherwell Larder. A load of the remaining apples will be cooked up into delicious crumble to serve in the Cherwell Collective's Climatarian Kitchen, which is a food surplus cafe operating on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at Exeter Hall, Kidlington. They also provide culinary courses, meal kits, and flexible recipes to help the community reduce food waste and promote well being. They feed between 150 and 300 people per week. Finally, the Cherwell Larder will take the rest of the apples to distribute to users of the larder. The Larder operates very similarly to a food bank, providing food and other essentials to the community.

Noted for future apple picking: hard hats or bike helmets would be useful apple picking kit!

Thanks for the title pun Henry!

What a gorgeous, sunny riverside evening.

The Ark-T centre have a Summer Celebration event on Friday evening this week, so they called in the GoodGym flashmob to get the garden ready for an influx of visitors.

Armed with secateurs, brooms and paint brushes we set to work:

• Painting the wooden teepee in funky colours
  
• Giving the pathway a good sweep to clear it of as much sand as possible
  
• Trimming the willow fronds back so that they weren't at eye level (and blocking the sight line of the CCTV).
  
• Pruning the shrubbery so the hammock can be used.
  
• Litter picking (2 condom wrappers found)
  
• Moving decking boards so that they don't form a trip hazard
  
• Breaking down rotten wooden pallets
  
• Giving the garden a thorough watering
  
• Topping up the sand pit
  

Fun was had on the climbing frame and slide and no-one over heated while running or gardening, plus we had a full compliment of GoodGym Tshirts, with everything from Race Team Vest to 50 and 100 Good Deed milestone Tshirts, to New Balance AND Saucony versions - a successful summer evening!