An unfortunate event can often result in a good outcome. We were sorry to hear about a break-in at the Oasis Hub community garden at the end of last week. Some kids had leapt the fence and caused trouble and mess by throwing things around, kicking things in and generally being a nuisance without a purpose. Luckily the culprits were caught on camera and were dragged back in to put right what they had undone but their actions had highlighted a need to do something with this underused space.

It just so happens that fellow GoodGymer Ruth is a volunteer at the Hub and so she knew just the team to come and help! There was a great response to the last minute call out with 7 of us arriving to give the gardens a tidy up including first timers Lisa and Andrew. Most of the team were sent into a dense thicket of brambles to begin chopping them down. The sound of snipping shears was interrupted by the occasional yelp as someone got pricked by the vicious undergrowth. Meanwhile the boys were set to task straightening out the kicked in shed, moving some heavy slabs and dragging broken pallets out of the bushes. Great progress was made with the plan to eventually turn the area into a wildlife garden that the local community can make use of and tend to. It will be a lovely addition to the area but there is still a fair bit of work to be done so we will be back soon to carry on cutting. Perhaps with better protective clothing!

Well done everyone for another fantastic GoodGym task!

The long hot summer continues which is making life hard for trees and plants in parks all around the city, none more so than Fort Royal. All the young trees need a good drink at least once a week at the moment so GoodGym were brought in to get the wet stuff to where it's needed. What we lacked in numbers we made up for with enthusiasm as Natalie and Marcus pushed barrows full of water containers all over the park to be emptied on to the grateful trees. The most important recipient being a relation of the famous liberty oak that was visited by Thomas Jefferson. It wasn't just the trees that needed a drink so Karen from Fort Royal Rangers kept us hydrated too before thanking us for a job well done. We'll back for more in a few weeks unless we get some rain.