We were 3 of 743 finishers at University Parks Christmas Day parkrun! A chilly but lovely start to the day ❤

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.

Have I mentioned just how much I love having a dog at a task?!? ESPECIALLY when it is a visit from the glorious Juno (and Ben).

Back to the task in hand....

This morning we had a lovely hour at Rose Hill Community Centre weeding the Youth Club planters and generally sprucing up the growing area.

Thistles were removed, planters were watered, litter gathered up and Juno was fussed and we all had a lovely chat, setting the world to rights.

An excellent start to the weekend.