Allot to do at the Allotment

23 Goodgymers helped their local community in Oxford
Laura Lawn-Hunt
Mariam Quindipan
Ben Foster
Sophie Kendall
Cassy Fiford
Stu Belcher
Annabel
Anwen Greenaway
Bethan Greenaway
Mark
Trevor
Sarah
Kate Mulrey
Aoife Fitzgerald
Sarah McFadden
Holly
Louise Hall
Kate
Venetia Lipscombe
Natalie Shirley
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Oxford

Wednesday 2nd September 2020

Credits
Anwen Greenaway
Anwen Greenaway

SESSION ORGANISER

Mark
Mark

PHOTOGRAPHER

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Report written by Anwen Greenaway

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Could it be that the GoodGym x Children's Allotment is destined to forever be a rainy evening?! It seems likely, but it doesn't dampen our enthusiasm for this amazing community cooperative project.

Since the Allotment is a bit tucked away we met in Florence Park; gathering up a few lost souls, chatting about ideas for autumn/winter tasks, and giving our latest Black Tshirt club member a cheer before setting off to the Children's Allotment - well done on 50 GoodGym Good Deeds Sarah!

Alice was ready and waiting for us at the Children's Allotment, and extremely well-prepared for our bumper crop of GoodGymers, with several tasks planned, and tools ready and waiting. This week we had hedge maintenance, woodchip spreading (cue an enthusiastic dash to the wheelbarrows!), tomato picking, and bramble/weed clearing for a new fruit and veg bed.

Tasks assigned, tools and gloves sorted, and everyone got stuck in straight away. The most popular task was definitely barrowing loads of woodchip over to spread out in what will one day be a play area, with much whooping and shouts of encouragement in that area! The teams untangling bind weed from the hedge, clearing the area for new planting, and harvesting tomatoes might have been quieter, but they were no less effective and chatty as they worked away.

As ever, it's impressive how much can be achieved in little more than an hour when 20 or so people get to work, and this task was no exception. The whole wood chip pile was redistributed over the play area, almost the whole hedge was cleared of it's choking bind weed, and the vast majority of the brambles and weeds were lopped and dug out from the new planting area.

We have been well fed on our Community Missions lately, and this week's bounty was eating and cooking apples, plus some delicious plum tomatoes. Yummy!

Welcome to our hat-trick of new volunteers; Natalie, Venetia, and Anna, as well as Nicki who joined us all the way from Cardiff. Great to meet you!


This task supported
The Children's Allotment
Creating an inclusive, parent-run, outdoor education space in Oxford's East Ward

A group of local parents and volunteers creating an inclusive outdoor education space for the local community. On the site of a disused old plant nursery in the East Ward Allotments on Cricket Road, they are bringing to life their vision for a new kind of 'Nursery' and children's allotment, trying out a new model that can provide affordable, cooperative childcare, outdoor learning and sustainable food-growing for children and families, all primarily outdoors year round.

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