7 Goodgym regulars joined us at midday for our first Saturday session at Highbury Quadrant Green Space.

Frannie from Octopus Communities gave us a brief overview about the plans for this unique series of plots, located behind a council estate near Clissold Park. The intention is to clean up these abandoned spaces, so that the residents can start to take care of them in the future, and to introduce some fruit trees and planters and greenery, alongside wild patches for local nature habits (frogs and foxes hang out here!).

We wheelbarrowed a collection of litter pickers, forks, loppers and spades to our first green space and got to work. Patrick, Steve C and Steve L gathered up as much litter as possible from the area (picking up footballs, broken furniture and abandoned clothing from nearby washing line), while John, Aidan and Frances snipped away at some thick brambles lining the paths around the potential garden.

We were given clear instructions about how much greenery we were to cut away, to maintain wild spaces where possible. By the time we finished, the plot had been transformed from being a messy overgrown patch, to becoming a pleasant place to visit.

Next Saturday, we plan to rake the newly cut areas, to prepare the space for future planting projects.

Sign up here to get involved: https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/highbury-quadrant-allotment-renovation

Well done folks! Great work for a lovely new task location.