We've been regular volunteers at the Oxford Mutual Aid food bank for 18 months, but with work getting busy the time has come to re-evaluate the Wednesday 4pm-6pm shift there. A solid final (for now) Wednesday afternoon shift saw us packing dozens of food parcels for distribution, and also prepping some Emergency Requests. Despite the busy shift we found a bit of time at the end to restock shelves, reorganise some of the crates to unearth the ones being collected early Thursday morning, and get the food waste out into the big bins.

Well done everyone who has been involved with the food bank shifts over the last 18 months. You have helped thousands of people. We'll take a short break from the weekly commitment, but do keep your eyes open for some shifts at other times after the Easter weekend - we'll try a few different time slots out every now and then to find something that works better for the team now that life has returned to something close to normal.

It's Wednesday, but not as we've come to know it over the last couple of months. These days we're back to being really busy on a Wednesday afternoon at the Oxford Mutual Aid food bank.

With the cost of living rising inexorably the demand for the food bank has never been higher. Yesterday we had all the usual regular food parcels to prepare, but there were also 24 emergency requests for food support.

Last week's Oxford Mutual Aid stats (read them and weep):

• 147 households requested emergency support. (348 people).
  
  • 28 referrals came in from other organisations, charities and statutory bodies including adult social care, city and county councils and housing associations.
    
  • 330 Households received their regular weekly parcel of essential supplies, baby products and kitchen collective meals.

Welcome to GoodGym Sophie - really nice to meet you!