Close your eyes and imagine a large scale. At one end of this scale, there is an obscene amount of food being wasted and at the other end, there are people (people from all walks of life) in crisis and in need of this food. Yet some people are unable to access it. What a bizarre and antithetical scale this is. Yet this is the reality for a lot more people than you might think. In fact, 1.9 million tonnes of food is wasted every year in the supply chain.

In tonight’s Community Mission, we weren’t just helping, we were also asking members of the public to help too. As some of you may know, this November, GoodGym is working to support FareShare, a UK wide charity fighting hunger and food waste. This mission saw Adam, Gaby, Hannah, Sam and Teresa working at Swindon Tesco Extra, handing out flyers and talking to members of the public all in aid of FareShare and with a goal to fill up a large supermarket trolley with foodstuffs that will be sent to FareShare and redistributed to those who need it. These generous and kind shoppers were asked to select any items on the list to purchase and place in the trolley as they left the store.

Despite having to endure two hours of Tesco’s door security constantly beeping, the night was extremely joyous and very chatty. Hannah and Gaby were on the front line and did not let the cold of the doorway dampen their moods. Instead, they set goals on how many conversations they could have with customers. Inside was equally as buzzing. Adam approaching as many people as he could and using his short and fast-talking to his advantage. Teresa would constantly see people she knew and ended up spawning long conservations with them, including spotting GoodGym'er Jenny. Sam did little to intervene in these conversations and ended up becoming a part of them herself. At only an hour into the mission, Teresa had to go hunting outside for a second trolley. This mission could not have been more successful. In just two hours we’d not only filled the one trolley but also filled a second!

From the little boy who used his fifty pence to purchase soup, to the generous lady who donated an entire basket full. From the mother who identified personally with FareShare and had, in fact, previously used their services herself, to the gentlemen who donated a shopping bag full and everyone in between. The generosity and kindness of these people could not have been greater and what we all collected tonight will go a long way to help those who need it most.

Tonight's mission did not see any carnivorous and hungry plants constantly shouting “feed me”. Instead, it allowed plenty of hungry and vulnerable people to be fed. This truly was a little shop of helpers!

Interested in our next Community Mission? It's at the Santa vs Rudolph Run at Lydiard Park next Sunday. Brighter Futures need our help. Not running that day? Then find out more here!