A hardy gang of local goodgymmers from GG Hackney and Newham provided chilled hands and toes today to support the Hackney Marshes parkrun team across a wide range of the volunteer roles. Hilary was on timekeeping duty, Rosa on barcode scanning, Graham as Funnel Manager, Nick on finish tokens and Sooz as tail walker. Between us we did spend a lot of time discussing just how many layers we all had on between us...and what the best techniques were to stop fingers freezing up.

Undeterred by the arctic conditions, 459 runners took to the course with some sparkling times at the front of the field, and our tail walkers crossing the line in just under an hour. A really enjoyable morning of volunteering (we'll certainly be back to do it again), and we then walked (via a welcome coffee) to Maryland for our next spring planter mission - always great when a plan comes together in spite of the chilly conditions!

My plan to get Mr T's Tesco shopping done first was foiled when I got to the Tesco to find the doors locked and a notice saying they'd suffered a serious network issue that meant they had to close the store temporarily - so as not to deprive Mr T of his soup, sardines and chicken slices I quickly set course for the nearby M&S, who, not for the first time saved the day, and then it was a really quick march in the cold up to Lidl for the rest...all's well that ends well.

After regularly shopping for Ms D on a Thursday morning for so many months, for various reasons Friday has become our new day to meet, although as she put it "it's fine, I'll always be in". This week she was well prepared, in spite of having to deal with a last minute laundry machine issue that her kindly neighbour had managed to fix. It had turned cold out, so it was a brisk walk up the Edgware Road and around the aisles, and before long I was back with her treasure for another week for which she was, as always, extremely grateful.

It was a happy new year to Mrs S who was in good spirits, in spite of finding herself housebound due to the cold weather and icy conditions, and her natural desire to avoid any risk of another fall after last year's little incident. She was keen to tell me that her daily exercises to restore strength in her various repaired joints are going well but I implored her to sit tight, as today was proving particularly blustery!

It was then the usual dictation of the list, which I took down in my best handwriting, and her explaining a few specifics (including how to properly pronounce Skyr...) - familiarity is now helpful in this regard, both of Mrs S's wants, and what's to be found in the aisles of the world's politest supermarket.