I have no doubt that an organization like this in Luton will help a lot of vulnerable people and those who are homeless with food. Although I have been living in Luton for more than two years and have not had the opportunity to volunteer until last year with Good Gym, I am sure that the Good Gym team is great and kind people. However, this is the first time I have had the opportunity to volunteer with FOOD CYCLE, so my feelings were wonderful, amazing, gorgeous, magnificent, fabulous, terrific, fantastic. Though this opportunity was late, let me answer this question: why do I want to be a volunteer? I am a frank and straightforward man, so I want to make new friends, share ideas, help poor people, be active, support my community, enhance my skills, strengthen my CV, and improve my mental health.

Making the most of a sunny Saturday morning, our team of 8 joined the regular Friends of People's park for a thorough tidy up of the playing field and the woods.

Splitting up in pairs we covered the whole park in an hour, collecting six bags of rubbish and three bags of cans for recycling!

Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with a visit to Lagoa Cafe for coffees and chats with our newest members.

There was an impressive turnout at the cafe today with just two goodgymers available to support. @Charmine and Abim burned a few calories sweating it out to keep the hall space clean and tidy the arrival attendees. Both ladies chuckled as they kept fit whilst putting the mess away in a timely way.

Another message from FoodCycle yesterday evening explaining that a whole pile of dirty tea towels, dish cloths and aprons had been left at the venue by the hosting team on Tuesday evening and asking if it would be possible for me to collect them and get them washed, dried, ironed and returned to the venue. I did think about running there to pick them up but didn’t fancy running back home with a bag of damp laundry so I drove over to the church, unlocked and found the towels and aprons sitting in a soggy pile in the stock cupboard. Once I was back home I literally threw the towels and other items into the washing machine with a generous dose of detergent and let the machine work in them for a while. Once they were done, as it was pouring with rain, the next thing was to throw the towels and aprons into the tumble drier. The hardest bit was yet to come. The apron s and their ties had all got into a horrible tangle so I spent quite a while trying to untangle the ties and get them folded up. And the last thing was to get them ironed. So now they are all neatly folded up in a bag ready to be returned to FoodCycle over the weekend.

We were joined this week by Ibrahim for his first taste of a group run after doing a few community missions. Martin took the lead to complete his Fitness Leader training and we headed off on a 4km journey to All Saint's Church, where Fr David and his team of garden helpers awaited the arrival of Goodgym help.

The Church's allotment area needed tidying up and readying for some fresh planting, now the warmer weather has finally arrived! We dug out the weeds, cut down overgrown shrubs and dismantled knackered old trellises, leaving the whole garden much tidier and two beds of soft black earth ready for planting.

Before we left Martin led us on a quick fitness blast of squats, planks and walking lunges, a good warm up for the return journey back into town.

What a topic seeing Mr D this afternoon. I had a tough morning at work and the afternoon had been busy but when I arrived at Mr D’s and got his cheeky welcome at the door it felt like I was getting off the treadmill and I sank into the sofa. He always asks about my job, and I was able to tell him a little about my day and he was keen to listen. He said it works both ways and that nearly every week I listen to his worries and he wanted to be a listening ear for me. After a brief overview he decided that I definitely deserved a cuppa and we went into the kitchen to brew up. He seemed more sprightly today and was back onto teasing mode and banter before the kettle had even finished boiling . Having a lovely cup of tea and a chat was just the tonic for us both. Mr D had a couple of letters he wanted me to read and then again we settled down to chatting about his memories about travel. When I said I would be away soon for a couple of weeks he had lots of travel advice and safety advice that he was keen to share with me. I will certainly use some of the tips he has given me. The hour and a half went by too quickly and I suddenly realised t was time to get back to work. I shall look forward to catching up with him again next week.