Although we've been baking in a heatwave for nearly a week, 1 hour before our GoodGym meeting time this week the heavens opened. Thunder and lightning and torrential rain nearly put paid to our litter pick, but the rubbish weather passed just in time for us to go ahead.

13 GoodGymers had faith that it never rains on the GoodGymers, and turned up ready to tackle the Magdalen Wood litter issue. We had a moment for introductions, celebrations of our latest 50 Good Deeder Bethan and a briefing, not that instructions were really needed for tonight - everyone was able to pick it up as they went along.

Litter picking is never a waste of time, and heading into Magdalen Wood, we could straight away see that we had a big job on our hands on this task:

• Cans and bottles littered the undergrowth
  
• Bin bags stuffed full of trash were dumped in bramble patches
  
• A jacket and socks were thrown to the side of the path
  
• A motorbike helmet and supermarket trolley were unearthed
  
• Crisp packets, cigarette butts, condom wrappers (yes really)
  
• Our new nemesis is the disposable mask, which has the magical ability to manifest in an area litter-picked only moments before.

After an hour or so of chatter (trash talk?), motor-bike dodging, and good honest plogging, we tracked down the dragon, sadly surrounded by a lot of litter and lightly charred (we prefer to think of that as being the result of the dragon's poor fire-throwing aim rather than vandalism).

Despite my poor punning in this run report, the more serious point is that Oxford is following the pattern that is being observed all across the UK - that this is the worst year for littering in decades. Magdalen Wood is a lovely patch of green in the city and is marred by it's huge litter issue. Usually litter accumulates badly here by the end of the summer, but this year it is a bigger problem and has been an ongoing issue for months.

Good work GoodGymers - you really made a difference tonight.