Have you got a Christmas tree that is suitable for goats to eat: free of tinsel, decorations, and spray snow. If so, take it to Abingdon lockside and leave it in the tree cage. The lock goats will happily munch on the needles and bark, and turn your tree into poop. Any leftovers will be composted and eaten by the worms and bugs.

The first repair cafe of 2025 is the Sewing Repair Cafe (Saturday 4th January 2025 at 10.30am – 1pm) in Unit 24. Go and see if the volunteers can mend, alter, or hem your garment!

The Mayor of Abingdon on Thames is hosting a quiz night to raise money for The Abingdon Driver Volunteer Service and One Planet Abingdon. The event will be held on Saturday, January 18th, 2025 at The Crown and Thistle. Tickets are £5 per person and can be purchased online at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/abingdon-town-council/t-dvrgveg. Teams can have up to 8 people. Individuals and teams with fewer than 3 people will be assigned to a team on the night.

The Abingdon Clubs and Societies Day is on March 1st 2025. If you want to highlight the work of your club or society visit https://www.abingdon.gov.uk/event/clubs-societies-day. Otherwise just turn up on the day.

For anybody wanting exercise at the start of the new year, the following two community groups may help:

The Abingdon Green Gym is a volunteer conservation group that meets every Saturday from 9.30am to 12.30pm. They work on a variety of tasks to improve the local environment. For more information, visit abingdongreengym.org.uk and see their programme for Winter 2024.

VOWH Ramblers is a walking group that offers eleven walks in January. The walks are free and open to all. For more information, visit ramblers-oxon.org.uk/vwh/walking/walks

Today, Unit 24, Bury Street, was busy with three community activities. The Woodcarvers, previously reported, were back again. The Ock Poets gathered in the back room and discussed the work of Fleur Adcock as well as sharing their own work. Abingdon Carbon Cutters held a sewing repair cafe.

Throughout the morning, visitors brought in clothing for small repairs, such as patching, replacing zips and elastic, or adjusting hems. These services were aimed at minor fixes rather than larger projects. Observing the volunteers at work also helped visitors gain insight into sewing techniques, making them more confident in handling simple repairs themselves.

For those with more complex sewing needs, volunteers offered advice on whether specific items could be repaired, and the best approach to fixing them. I asked what was the most difficult thing they’d have to sew and one volunteer said replacing a zip in a multi-layered puffer jacket. Volunteers also provided guidance on simple tasks like sewing on buttons or hemming. For people looking to develop their sewing skills further, One Planet Abingdon offers courses on sewing machine use and other repair techniques. It all helps promote repair, reuse and alteration of clothing instead of disposal.

To find out more about Unit 24, if your community group might use it see https://abingdoncivicsociety.org.uk/activities/unit-24-community-space/.

The Ox and Bucks Wine Collective, a local community group, concluded their 2024 grape harvest last weekend in Abingdon. Members brought in grapes from their vines, pooling their efforts to produce a collective wine.

The harvest collection took place at two locations:
* Bucksum near Thame on September 29th
* Peachcroft Farm, Abingdon on October 6th

Thanks to Margaret for the pictures.

The volume of grapes was down on 2023. Despite rising temperatures, erratic weather can make it difficult to cultivate grapes in a cooler climate.

The harvested grapes will be processed and bottled, with the finished wine expected to be available for collection in May or June 2025.