A VOLUNTARY group that combines keep-fit with practical conservation work is starting the new year in celebration of its 10th birthday.

The volunteers of Bicester Green Gym got straight back to it on Tuesday, laying wood chip in Bure Park.

It was the first task for the group’s anniversary year as it takes a look back on the difference it has made in the district over the past decade.

Volunteer group secretary Bea Foster said: “It is definitely an achievement.

“Three of us have done the full 10 years and some other people a good eight or nine years.

“I think most people like it and stick with it because it is a nice way to get out but obviously some people do move or get new jobs.

“We are about to lose a couple of regulars who we will miss a lot, so another few volunteers would not go amiss.

“We have about 12 to 14 people regularly at each session, which makes quite a nice comfortable size and it is a very social group that is important as well as working outdoors keeping fit.”

Mrs Foster heard about the group a decade ago through the local paper.

She said: “I think it was shortly after the Bure Park estate was finished. It came from an Oxfordshire invention originally.

“A Dr William Bird thought up the concept of a Green Gym as he saw the medical benefits.”

There are about 100 groups nationally including Abingdon, Bicester, Chipping Norton and Wallingford to help get more people active while making positive changes to the local area.

Over the years Bicester Green Gym has made a mark locally by planting, weeding and pruning, and clearing litter from black spots.

The group was also instrumental in the clear- up of the town’s first community orchard in Langford Village, which is now often used by local schools and for events.

Among the litter, leaves and brambles that the green gym tackle week by week was one out of the ordinary day in when they found a long-lost purse.

Volunteers turned detectives last February to investigate the purse, which contained cards from 1987, and managed to trace it back to its grateful owner.

The group hopes to go into the new year with new tasks including a little blitz in Kings End on Tuesday, January 19, at 9.30am.

Moving into the summer, it is hoping to host a bigger community event for anniversary celebrations and is exploring any large tasks that they could rope in the neighbouring green gyms to help out with.

For more information on the group or to join, see bicestergreengym.org