What a lovely day to be out on the river!

Today we teamed up with the Falcon Boat Club to clean up the river and river banks between Donnington Bridge and Heyford Hill ring road bridge. We've worked together to clear litter from the river many times now, so we know we always recover a big haul, but it still surprises us every time JUST how much stuff we pull out of the river and off the banks!

Today was no different, with the canoe teams getting creative to float a drowned moped back to base, 2 trollies wheeled up to the road from under the bridge, and many many bottles and cans picked up. In sartorial news, the garment of the day was shoes - we found sliders, a pair of trainers, and several socks to go with them - but honorable mentions go to the buried coat and the pair of shorts.

Great work once again team - that was a brilliant amount of litter cleared up.

Welcome to GoodGym to all our new GoodGymers today: Adam, Dima, Muireann, Nazanin, Daniel, Deb, and Carmen!

We have been teaming up with the Falcon boat club for river cleans for a few years now: a lovely partnership where we have fun, do good for the environment and learn new skills.

Unfortunately, after the wettest February on record, the river conditions weren't safe for less-experienced canoeists this time, so we adjusted our plans. GoodGymers split into 3 teams to tackle the litter on different parts of the Thames Path, with a trio of pro-canoeists on the water collecting the full litter sacks and taking them back to the boat club. We collected a literal tonne of trash, with bikes, shoes, cans, bottles, hub caps, and (fan-favourite) pants all forming part of our stash.

The sun came out in time to enjoy tea and snacks on the boat club terrace at the end.

Great work as always team!

Welcome to GoodGym Jo and Daphne!

Altogether now, to the tune of The Teddy Bears' Picnic

If you go down to the woods today
You’re sure of a big surprise
If you go down to the woods today
you’d better take plogging supplies!

For all the trash that ever there was
Is gathered there for certain because
The woods are where the litter bugs go to hang out

Litter pick time for GoodGymers
The GoodGym crew are having a smelly time tonight
Watch them pick up clothes and cans
On a litter pick in the Magdalen Wood

See them hunt for all the trash
They love to clean it up
They never leave any thing behind
Then plastic and bottles are bagged up and dragged out
And left for the truck to remove
Cos it’s home time for the GoodGymers.

Tonight's oddest litter finds:
A toy helicopter, 4 shopping baskets, sunglasses, a coat.

The vast number of photos of our river litter pick in collaboration with Falcon boat club and Isis Canoe Club tell the story of our Saturday task better than any written words. Fabulous sunshine, friendly faces; the perfect day to spend a couple of hours on the water and along the river bank. We cleared a huge haul of detritus from in and around the river and had fun in the sun.

Great to see you at your 1st GG task Ian, and nice to meet you Louise!

While the regular car boot sale was taking place in the North Car Park of the Kassam Stadium, we acquired our own haul of goodies and treats as part of OxClean's Spring Clean.

The many discarded packets of Quavers crisps were joined by an array of cans and bottles, some of which looked like they had been there for several years and were becoming a part of the structural cement on the bank of the brook. Thankfully, nobody fell in the brook but Anwen did manage to prise out an office chair that would go well with other soft furnishings, such as the pillow, that we acquired on the trip.

Other goodies on offer included several items of clothing, including a cap, trousers, flip-flops, and of course pants - a regular find on GoodGym Oxford litter picks! If clothing and furniture wasn't your thing, we also found parts of a lawnmower, several hub caps, a very old and rusted bike (otherwise known as "vintage"), and a skateboard.

In order to carry all these items, we also found several trolleys, from Sainsburys and Tesco that we managed to retrieve from the undergrowth, while another trolley proved too far away and embedded in the brook along with a bike.

For those looking for more entertainment, we also found a Frankie & Benny's advertisement sign for Valentine's day meal deals, a DVD player, and a 50 Cent Get Rich or Die Tryin' CD.

It was a serious haul of rubbish and thankfully Oxford Direct Services (ODS) we able to pick a lot of it part of the way through. Certainly worth a follow up going the other way from the car park, closer to the stadium where the car boot sale was in full flow.

Thank you all for coming to help! Keep an eye out for OxClean photos on their social media or their website. Thank you to ODS, who provide the refuse sacks and collected the rubbish once collated and piled up.

Donning buoyancy aids and a can(oe)-do attitude, a group of GoodGymmers teamed up with Falcon Boat Club to undertake a river litter pick along the Cherwell and Thames as part of OxClean's 2023 Spring Clean.