This evening's community mission ticked all the boxes for the perfect evening out with GoodGym:

✅ Stunning sunny weather.

✅ Lovely company including friends old and new, and a sea of red t-shirts (plus 1 black - well earned Jess!)

✅ Beautiful setting in ancient woodland.

✅ Pre-task social 5km run for some of us through the beautiful countryside surrounding Ockwells Park.

✅ A short walk for all of us from the car park through the aforementioned beautiful countryside to the task.

✅ A great task owner in Jason Mills, the RBWM Countryside Manager. We always learn something new about nature and our local parks and nature reserves when we see Jason. Plus, he has an excellent collection of wheelbarrow and spades!

✅ A task that gave us a great workout and made us feel like superheroes: we used spades to heap woodchip into wheelbarrows, which we then wheeled (quite a long way and at pace!) down the path, delivering the woodchip to Jason, who then raked it out.

✅ Moments to catch your breath and chat in between the shovelling and wheelbarrow ferrying (aka interval training)

✅ Knowing that even though there is still a lot of woodchip to shift, every bit we moved this evening will help protect biodiversity in this precious place. The woodchip reinforces the designated path in the woods, discouraging people from trampling delicate wildflowers away from the path and helping to prevent the compaction of the loose, rich soil that these flowers need in order to grow.

✅ The opportunity to check out Jason's lovely new sign, designed to educate people about the path and the significance of this woodland.

✅ Bizarre find: Vikki found what we think was a duck egg amongst the woodchip! Perhaps hidden there by a squirrel? Or the Easter bunny...

✅ Roe deer spotted! By Sheila on her bike ride out of the park. It just stood in the middle of the track watching her. Wonderful!

✅ Ace photographer Kelley brought her posh camera along, promising awesome photos for the report (soon to be uploaded so watch this space!)

We hope to return in the near future for more of the same, so keep an eye on the happenings page for more sessions.