Shady Aston Eyot was thankfully cool for a strenuous scything and fence repair task. Ruth assigned our tasks and kept a watchful eye on progress. There are always nettles to chop back; this time we scythed around a fenced in area, cleared an overgrown path and carved out a track to one of the many backwaters. James tackled his first scything task with gusto, quickly getting into the swing of it; for Vicky and Joe it was another battle with a familiar foe. The rest of the team tackled the fence repair. Burrowing animals create holes under the fence big enough for muntjacs to squeeze through, undermining the purpose of the deer proof enclosure. The task was to reinforce the fence posts, cable tie loose sections of wire and block off the holes with sawn up logs. Anja, Henry, Sarah and Steve used their ingenuity to make the enclosure deer proof once more and give the saplings a chance to thrive. Due to the heat, a group run was not on the menu. Thanks to the whole team for another great session and special shout outs to James on his first scything task and welcome back to Oxford GoodGym to Sarah.

Cutteslowe Greenhouses is still a fairly new venue for us, and each visit helps clear another layer of long‑abandoned detritus. Matthew hosted and pointed us toward today’s priorities: clearing the future café area, shifting fence panels, and relocating a fresh batch of materials.

The standout job was the polystyrene pile‑up. We gathered sheets from around the site and stacked them into a bright, tidy white wall beside the skip. We’ve stacked wood, bricks, blocks, stones over the years, but never polystyrene. A new material added to the GoodGym repertoire.

We also cleared the café area and watered a huge number of plants, much needed after last week’s greenhouse heatwave, when one tunnel hit 75 degrees.

A warm welcome to James, who joined us for his first GoodGym task and jumped straight into the clear‑up and poly‑stacking.

Another solid dent made in the Cutteslowe clutter mountain — steadily nudging the place from Cutteslowe toward clutter‑low.

Saturday's Community Mission saw us tackling some much-needed garden maintenance at the HMP Bullingdon's visitor centre. With the heatwave finally drawing to a close, we made the most of the slightly more forgiving weather by giving the newly planted hedging the care it deserved. Our main mission was to weed around each plant, clearing away any unwanted competition so the hedging has the best chance to establish itself.

Once everything was weed-free, we gave the hedging a thorough watering - very much needed after the scorching conditions of the past week. We then finished up by spreading cardboard and mulch around the plants to help lock in moisture and keep future weeds at bay. It was satisfying to leave the area looking tidy and knowing the plants are now set up for success. We like to think the hedging is now on the right root to recovery!

After a warm morning’s work (thankfully the last of the heatwave!), we were treated to some well-earned refreshments; water and fresh strawberries, went down an absolute treat. It was a lovely gesture and gave everyone a chance to cool off in the shade and chat after the session.

Overall, it was a productive and enjoyable hour and a half, with plenty achieved and lots of chat along the way. The garden is already looking much neater, and with a bit of luck - and a splash of rain - the hedging will continue to thrive.

We were delighted to welcome David to his first GoodGym task.

This evening, we returned to Meadow Lane playground to continue our support for the NaturEscape transformation project. We split into two teams to tackle the next tasks. The first team worked on clearing the mesh fencing with bolt cutters, enjoying the satisfaction of completing a job we started last time! By cutting back the fencing and clearing overgrown foliage, the play space has been opened up, allowing children to run freely between the trees. The second team transferred woodchip from below a defunct zip line to a log circle, instantly making the area look more magical and inviting. We learnt that the technique for clearing the woodchip was to ‘scrape not dig’’! We scraped up the woodchip and transported it back and forth in a wheelbarrow. Joe provided some great tips, including to always point your empty wheelbarrow in the direction you’ll travel once it’s full, saving you from maneuvering a heavy load! We were pleased to have Chris back with us, and to warmly welcome Rab for their first session!