Didcot Garden Town – updates
Latest news:
Newsletter
We produce a newsletter to keep you up to date on what’s happening in and around the garden town. Click here for our latest summer 2025 newsletter.
If you’d like to sign up and receive our newsletters to find out more about the exciting projects planned for the town – register for updates by pressing the button below:
Didcot Garden Party 2025
We’re celebrating all things summer in Didcot with new artwork at Cornerstone. Artist, Tom Mclean, worked with young people at Didcot TRAIN to highlight some of the exciting work taking place within Didcot’s community.
Honouring our green spaces, community groups and local centres, this colourful exhibit shows you events and activities being brought to you this summer by our amazing community.
By coming together with local partners, we’ve created a programme of events that brings people together by championing health and wellbeing, active lives and sustainable living.
List of Didcot Garden Party events Summer 2025
Didcot / Vauxhall Barracks Play & Activity Day
Saturday 21 June, 11am – 3pm
Edmonds Park, Park Road, OX11 8QX
A FREE, Community Playday event for the whole Community
Leisure Centres’ Open Weekend
Saturday 19 and Sunday, 20 July 7am – 5pm
Didcot Wave, Newlands Ave, OX11 8NX and Didcot Leisure Centre, Mereland Road, OX11 8AY
This is your chance to come and try a range of free activities and services free of charge – booking required.
The Splash Pad
22 July until 2 September, 10am – 5pm every day
Edmonds Park, Park Road, OX11 8QX
Didcot Town Council has built a wonderful splash pad at Edmonds Park for children of all ages. For more information visit www.didcot.gov.uk/splash-pad
Youth Fest
24 July, 1pm – 5pm
Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, OX11 7NE
Organised by and for local young people! Activities, workshops, food and entertainment. All the information can be found by visiting didcotyouthfest.org
Find out more about Didcot TRAIN summer sessions here
Didcot TRAIN
All sessions are free to attend, there is no sign up required prior, young people can just turn up. Keep an eye out on @trainyouth on facebook and Instagram – for weekly timetables. Or the Didcot TRAIN website www.trainyouth.org.uk
Groups include-
Summer football sessions at UTC
Monday’s 28th July, 4th, 11th & 18th August 5pm
UTC, Candytuft Way, Didcot OX11 6BZ
Youth Club
Every Tuesday 6:30pm-8:00pm (school year groups 7-11)
Every Thursday 5:00pm-6:30pm (school year groups 7 & 8)
Every Thursday 7:30pm-9:00pm (school year groups 9+)
TRAIN, Unit 1A, 5/6 Market Place, Didcot, OX11 7LE
Year six Youth Club
Every Wednesday 4:00pm-5:00pm
TRAIN, Unit 1A, 5/6 Market Place, Didcot, OX11 7LE
Outreach sessions
Every Friday over the summer holidays, youth workers will be doing outreach in local parks, check the timetable weekly to find out where. www.trainyouth.org.uk
Litter Pick Monday
28 July, 9am – 3pm
Didcot Civic Hall, Britwell Road OX11 7HN
Join the community litter pick around Didcot Civic Hall and Smallbone Recreation Ground to help make our public spaces more accessible to everyone.
From 9am – 3pm drop in/out anytime
Sign up by emailing events@didcot.gov.uk
Hatwells Funfair
28 July to 11 August
Edmonds Park, Park Road, OX11 8QX
The always popular, annual funfair is back for another year, with adult and children rides, inflatable and games and refreshment stalls.
Sustainable Didcot
Aimed at primary aged children and their responsible adults, Sustainable Didcot are running a series of five activities on Wednesdays from1 – 4pm to explore sustainable living including topics such as Nature, Energy and Waste. These are drop in/out between 1 and 4pm but children must be accompanied at all times.
There is no parking at The Green Hub and we suggest Station Road or Sainsbury’s.
Asking for a £2 entry donation to cover costs.
sites.google.com/site/sustainabledidcot/home
Family Drop In – Are you sustainable? ♻️
Wed 30 July, 1 – 4pm
The Green Hub, Lydalls Road, OX11 7DT
Why not go along and have a look at what The Green Hub services can offer you and then making natural art.
Family Drop in – Nature Lovers ️
Wed 6 August, 1 – 4pm
The Green Hub, Lydalls Road, OX11 7DT
Your chance to find out and consider what local wildlife means to you and have a go at making bird feeders, bug houses and ponds.
Family Drop In – What a load of rubbish 🗑️
Wed 13 August, 1 – 4pm
The Green Hub, Lydalls Road, OX11 7DT
Let’s stop being so wasteful and do some activities to repair, reuse and recycle – a great opportunity to reduce your weekly waste.
Family Drop In – Don’t grass us up 🦗
Wed 20 August, 1 – 4pm
The Green Hub, Lydalls Road, OX11 7DT
Ever wondered what a difference it makes having real or artificial grass? This event will help you to compare real and artificial grass and you’ll also be able to make some grass head sculptures.
Family Drop In – Have you got the energy ⚡
Wed 27th August 1 – 4pm
The Green Hub, Lydalls Road, OX11 7DT
A powerful session for everyone to learn about how to cut energy use at home and make some wind powered items.
Inflatable Fun Day
27 to 31 August
Edmonds Park Park Road, OX11 8QX
A wide array of inflatables from bouncy castles to assault courses.
Sunflower Competition
All ages welcome to take part
Send in a photo of your sunflower next to a tape measure to Didcot Town Council and the tallest entry wins
Send entries to events@didcot.gov.uk by Monday 1 September.
Didcot Library
Didcot Library, 197 Broadway, OX11 8RU
Didcot Library will be hosting a variety of fun free events from Lego Club to Coding, Science to interactive Nature Storytimes, Summer reading challenge and more. Check out the website or Facebook page for full details. www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/oxfordshire-libraries/find-library/didcot-library
Active Communities
Alongside Active Communities regular weekly activities there will be a wide range of Fundays, sports sessions and exciting courses running in Didcot and surrounding areas this summer. Please look at the website to find more information or email or contact Youmove@southandvale.gov.uk
www.southandvale.gov.uk/south-and-vale-holiday-activities/
With thanks to Didcot Garden Party partners Didcot Town Council, Didcot Library, Sustainable Didcot, The Active Communities team, Better Leisure, and a special thank you to Cornerstone and the young people at Didcot TRAIN.
Didcot Garden Town Advisory Board
The next Didcot Garden Town Advisory Board meeting is 21 July at 10am. If you would like to join and watch our online meeting, please contact us by 14 July by emailing didcotgardentown@southandvale.gov.uk.
The agenda for the 21 July Advisory Board meeting can be found here (PDF). During the last meeting in March meeting we went through the garden town projects with our members and you can see the programme tracker presented at the meeting here (PDF).
Didcot Public Art Plan
We are delighted to share our Public Art plan for Didcot. The plan focusses on sustainability and nature, connecting residents to their surroundings and celebrating visual responses to our landscapes – something that everyone can get involved in.
The plan will focus on leading by example, the evolving identity of Didcot and inviting people to share their stories and celebrate different cultures. With connectivity, movement, innovation, science, technology, and transformation as our commissioning approaches, we will share more news on how you can get involved as they develop.
Didcot Nature Trail
The wonderful Didcot Nature Trail is now available for everyone to find out more about the local area. Head out by foot and learn more about the diverse natural world around us.
You can find out more and download the nature trail map here.
Leisure Facilities Assessment and Strategy
The councils have approved a new Leisure Facilities Assessment Strategy (LFAS), which provides an audit of the quality, quantity and accessibility of leisure facilities, as well as the current and future use of the facilities. The LFAS has assessed the key sports and leisure facilities within the South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district areas, including throughout Didcot. This includes sports halls, swimming pools, activity halls, health and fitness suites, squash courts, water sports facilities, skateparks, multi-use games areas and climbing walls.
The Playing Pitch Strategy
The councils have also adopted a new The Playing Pitch Strategy, which provides an audit of the quality, quantity, and accessibility of playing pitches (including cricket, football, hockey, rugby and other pitches) to establish the current levels of demand and the appropriate level of pitch provision that can be planned for the future.
You can find out more information on both the above strategies here.
Project update
We’ve had the following projects approved:
Green Infrastructure Strategy – this new strategy will help us to create detailed designs on how we can improve the biodiversity along walkways and cycle paths in and around Didcot and help to develop a new route between Mowbray Fields to the new Valley Park development.
Wayfinding Strategy – We’ve been working on providing new signage around the town to help new and existing residents to find the wide and varied walkways and cycle paths in Didcot.
Our Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (otherwise known as an LCWIP) for Didcot has now been approved by Oxfordshire County Council as the local highways authority. The plan sets out where improvements can be made to cycling paths and walkways to help encourage everyone to get around the town. You can read the report below and if you’d like a copy of any appendices, please contact us and we’ll send over a copy.
Didcot Garden Town case study
Since becoming a garden town in 2017 we’ve been working with partners to help improve the lives of everyone living in and around the town.
In partnership with Homes England, we are pleased to share a Didcot Garden Town case study that shows how we’ve helped develop strategies and plans for the town, how we overcome challenges over the past six years and what we’ve learnt along the way.
Didcot Wildlife Garden Charter
We’ve partnered with Sustainable Didcot to help highlight a Didcot Wildlife Garden Charter to encourage everyone to pledge to help the wildlife thrive in their own garden.
With just a few simple steps you can help create green corridors to help enhance the biodiversity in the local area. You can get involved by visiting Sustainable Didcot’s website.
Other projects:
On your Doorstep walking map available
We’ve worked together with Didcot Town Council, local parish councils, community groups and centres to create a ‘On your Doorstep’ map of interesting things. This beautiful map illustrates some of art works, trails and cultural and historical places in and around Didcot Garden Town. You can also pick up a paper copy at Cornerstone in Didcot.
More information on the garden town
Find out more about the Didcot Garden Town and the delivery plan here.
Contact us - Didcot Garden Town
01235 422473
(Text phone users add 18001 before dialing)
South Oxfordshire District Council
Abbey House
Abbey Close
Abingdon
OX14 3JE
