Litter Picking Session – Oxleas Wood & Meadow

Saturday, 6th June 2026

Breezy Conditions, Lighter Loads

Despite a breezy morning with occasional showers, 12 volunteers turned out for our latest litter pick around the Oxleas Car Park and Café area.

The good news was that litter levels were noticeably lighter than usual. A particularly helpful community member had pinned litter sacks to trees throughout the area, especially along the area closest to Shooters Hill, an area that is often heavily affected by littering. This simple, but thoughtful, action appears to have made a real difference and helped reduce the amount of rubbish accumulating in the area.

What a difference doing this has made!

It also meant we were able to litter pick in a much wider area. After two hours of work, the team collected around:

• 15 bags of general litter

• a half-buried black coat

• a plastic bucket

• three large plastic plant pots

• a tatty plastic sign

• a small, orange plastic cone

  
  

The cone has now been given a new purpose and will be kept for use during our woodland conservation activities.

We also removed fly-tipped wood from along the edge of the entrance road down to the car park, and four of the usual large gas canisters from the site close to the car park. These, of course, must be kept separate from the general waste as they can be dangerous in bins and at the waste disposal site.

Gas Cannisters in the bucket

There was one moment of excitement when an enthusiastic volunteer discovered and relocated our large gardening sacks from their carefully concealed garden storage area. You can just spot them at the back of the photo below. Fortunately, the mystery was quickly solved, and the sacks were safely recovered!

Ready for collection.

Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who volunteered, and to the community member whose proactive efforts helped make this month's clean-up a little easier. Every small action contributes to keeping our green spaces cleaner and more enjoyable for everyone.