After meeting new member Nicola and a mini litter pick around Marston we descended upon the Up in Arms to say farewell and bon voyage to Anwen.

This is the speech that I MEANT to give before I became a blubbering mess......

After 7 years and an amazing 665 good deeds the Queen of Goodgym Oxford is departing for a new European adventure.

The impact that Anwen has had on Oxford cannot be underestimated. She has gathered us to clean food banks, create green spaces, look after community gardens, remove brambles, weed walls, clear litter and even move an organ over a railway bridge.

As I was making my way to the task this evening I passed all the beautiful daffodils that we've planted - a cheerful reminder that Goodgym was here!

We have had many running adventures too - parkruns, races, our View Cones run in memory of our lovely Tim, and marathons in fun places. If Anwen sends you a link to a races and says "fancy it?" you should ALWAYS say yes!!

Anwen you kept us going through Covid (with Trev's help) providing essential food packages and prescriptions for the community and much needed social contact for us too. You have literally supported us through births, deaths and marriages and everything in between.

A thank you should also be said on behalf of the stray and feral cats of Oxfordshire - another example of your capacity to nurture and care.

Oxford's loss is very definitely France's gain and we will miss you. Please raise your glasses to Anwen!!

Anwen was quick to react to the last minute cancellation of our planned session and conjure a friendly 5-a-side scavenger hunt in central Oxford. Runners v Walkers with no cup for the winners, except for the coffee cup on Anwen's list.

Walkers took an early lead through a great Stephen pun (a fork in the road). Runners struck back thanks to in depth knowledge of GoodGym venues. A masquerade mask was the best very random item and Walkers increased their lead when they bumped into Emma for the "street with a fellow GoodGymer's name". Mr. Tumnus was worth a point for Runners, and after a tense count back at Central Library, Anwen declared a draw.
One team could have snatched victory if only they had picked up a ....Walker's crisp packet.

Yaaaay for the longer evenings and GoodGymming in daylight.

What's your favorite dinosaur?? This is surely how all Goodgym tasks should start!

This evening we shouldered our litter pickers and bags and headed to one of our most notorious grot spots to give it a flash-mob tidy.

Notable finds this week include a mini neon coloured litter picker, garden rubble (reported to the council), a teeny tiny toothbrush and a pair of insoles. Chat ranged from favorite old school snacks (Sunmaid raisins and club chocolate bars) and what classic novels/plays should be adapted for TV/film next.

It was a hard task to leave litter which we could see through the Nature Reserve fence but we'll be back there in about 10 days time to help tidy up the other side of the fence!

Good work team!

It was a hardy group of Goodgymers who ventured out this evening. It was VERY cold!!

A couple of weeks ago on out previous Wood Green litter pick we noticed that the area around The Slade was very grubby, so we decided to do something about it.

So armed with litter pickers, bags and some barely functioning torches we set to work and cleared an alarming amount of litter, despite very cold fingers and toes all round!

Next week we are indoors - phew!!

Welcome to Goodgym Holly!!

What is January without a litterpick or two? Last night's target was the Wood Farm/Magdalen Wood area. We were treated to a spooky walk through the middle of the wood, with plenty of trash hiding in the undergrowth. We then swooped around a few of the residential streets and back to the Atkyns Road shops, collecting coffee cups, crisp packets, and cans as we went. Socks, a hub cap, and a novel were our more unusual finds.

On our post-task run, we noticed lots of litter on the Headington side of the shops, so we will return to tackle that at the end of the month.

Welcome to GoodGym Joel!

'Tis the season to litter pick the streets of Oxford, so to Headington we headed for an evening of nattering and trash clearing.

We focused on the area surrounding the Oxford Brookes Headington campus, finding plenty of the usual suspects; cans, bottles, crisp packets etc. We were just chatting about how rarely we find pants these days, after a spate of unearthing them on almost every litter pick, when lo and behold Ben spotted a pair hooked on the railings. It's like we manifested them.

1 hour, several heavy bags full of trash, and a potential new recruit later, we deposited our haul for collection and headed off home to warm up.