This was a full 3-hour mission at Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre (VGCC), supporting the weekly food bank from the first private donations of the morning through to two further deliveries from The Felix Project and Tesco. The early donations included essential hygiene items such as toilet rolls, diapers, body wash, and haircare products including shampoos and conditioners.

By the end of the week, VGCC aims to support more than 100 vulnerable local residents in urgent need of food and basic necessities, so careful preparation was needed to ensure everyone left with enough.

The morning involved lifting, unloading, sorting, printing and attaching best-before labels across a wide range of food items. These included essential vegetables such as carrots, cabbages, onions, potatoes, broccoli and parsnips; fruit including bananas and lemons; frozen meat; cans of soft drinks; bread and fresh items such as brownies and other snacks.

It was a rewarding mission, and a clear reminder of how much careful preparation goes into keeping a community food service running smoothly.