GoodGym Oxford made a triumphant return to The Children’s Allotment after several years away. It was a gorgeous, sunny evening with a breeze that made the summer heat much more manageable than recent weeks. Because it had been so long since our last visit, the site was brand new to most of us. We were thrilled to welcome three fantastic new recruits - Simon, Hannah, and Celestia who jumped straight into the action after our run out from Richard Benson Hall.

Our host, Vita, had a long checklist ready to get the community space back into tip-top shape. The team quickly split up and crushed a variety of physical jobs. We shifted timber, lopped back overhanging branches, weeded raised beds, and cleared out thick patches of prickly brambles and nettles. We also collected windfall apples and damsons and dragged out piles of broken, abandoned paraphernalia to clear the site for an upcoming skip removal.

With the hard work done, Vita invited us to vote on how tonight's session had influenced our personal well-being, with apples! It was a wonderfully creative, grounding way to reflect on the power of community and fresh air before our run back to base. An absolute powerhouse of a session and we promise not to leave it as long 'til our next visit.

Well it HAD to be a Bonnie themed title didn't it?!?

On this historic evening we gathered at Magdalene wood - a beautiful patch of woodland but also a notorious litter grot-spot. Serving as a cut through between 2 areas it gets very mucky very often.

This evening was no exception. We found some massive areas of litter - the usual cans, bottles and fast good wrappers but also an area where some cats have been being fed (Anwen would approve, though not of the litter) and a huge stash of nitrous oxide cannisters.

We cleared up for an hour, filling 11 MASSIVE bags and reported everything into the council for collection. Amusingly Jacqui was asked if she was on community service......!!

We then headed out of the wood and with Henry's pin hole set up we managed to safely watch the eclipse! A pretty fascinating experience. The light really did go very strange and gloomy.

Thank you team for coming out in the hot hot heat!!

A small but mighty team returned to Marston Forest Garden this morning, to have a second go at clearing daisies from around the fruit trees.

Things we learnt:

• Rats like apricots.
• Trimmings should be snipped ready for composting.
• What a Hairy Shield Bug looks like.

We also had chats about poetry, books, the importance of names, WILL IT EVER RAIN, and the bakeries of Oxford.

Smaller team means a bigger share of Isobel's delicious blackberry cake!

With a brisk breeze blowing and the omnipresent sun shining, this evening we journeyed to Kennington to tackle a bit more ragwort.

Kennington Memorial Fields is a gorgeous nature space on the edge of Radley and Bagley woods and is used for grazing. Ragwort is great for butterflies and caterpillars but can be deadly if eaten by cattle and horses.

Armed with ragwort forks and shears we got to work hoiking out the, now rather crispy, plants and trying not to spread too many of the seeds. Our other jobs involved removing ivy from the gateways and memorial plaques (thank you Chris) and giving the anthills a bit of a haircut to remove some very prickly thistles. We also cleared up a bit of garden rubbish that seemed to have made its way into the meadow.....

Ragwort pulling is a little like litterpicking in a way - sponsored by the phrase "oh but theres a bit more over there!!".

Splendid work as ever team!!

This evening, we returned to Aston’s Eyot, a 32-acre nature reserve with public access. It’s a GoodGym favourite, as it almost always involves scything and offers lovely views of the river!

We split into two teams to tackle different sections. Our tasks ranged from using posts to secure log seating and sawing branches to open up the viewpoints, to scything the pathways and lopping back overgrown greenery. Along the way, we enjoyed watching the rowers, kayakers, and swans pass by.

It was the kind of task where we could see the immediate impact of our work. We even got to test out one of the log benches at the end and admire the newly cleared space. We were really pleased to welcome Akshat for their first GoodGym session!