Today was a first for a lot of things on this Sunday afternoon community mission. To start with it was Connie first ever mission with Goodgym Ealing : welcome to GG Ealing! Then it was a first for Jenny at a soup kitchen. Last but not least it was the first session that Goodgym Ealing have done with Ealing Soup Kitchen on a Sunday. We normally are present either on some Monday evenings at the take away service with Emma at the Salvation Army, on Fridays at the HUB in the crypt of St John's church with Angela. Today it was an inaugural session with Richard for Sunday Meal. I arrived before the start of our session and Richard spotted me : he got me straight into setting up with the volunteers already present. I helped to do sandwiches : cheese or ham. Then finished setting up some tables. Both Jenny and Connie arrived and were debriefed on our tasks for the afternoon. The doors opened and guests came in for food and drinks. We all started serving drinks and food. Then I was prompted to help the kitchen crew whilst Connie and Jenny carried on serving the customers who were coming in. I was with another volunteer tpo plate the main dishes. Menu today was :

• Vegetable Soup
• Jacket Potato with either tuna/sweetcorn or baked beans all topped with grated cheese
• Sponge cake with custard
• Fruit also given out : banana and tangerines

I was getting order for the jacket potatoes with different toppings. Jenny then went to the kitchen to help clean pots, pans, dishes etc .. Once service cleared the 3 Goodgymers helped with the clearing and cleaning.

Both Connie and Jenny enjoyed this session : that is their words.

Friday lunch time service and the weather was very hot today outside reaching 29degres which means it was very hot in the kitchen and in the crypt of the church. Freya was on clothes and Jacquie was on kitchen duties, serving lunch then helping to clear up. Menu today :

• Roast Chicken Dinner
• Veggie Sausages Both serve with honey glazed parsnips, carrots, mashed potato and onion gravy
• Jelly & Ice Cream

Ice cream is the best dessert in hot weather.

Jacquie is back from her travels and joined Freya at the Friday Hub. Not only did they sign up for 1 mission each but for 2 missions. Two for one ! They started on tea/coffee duties from 11am until 12:30 then were serving food from 1pm. Jacquie helped with washing up while Freya carried on serving. They both helped clear up after lunch. It started quiet then got quite busy. Food was delicious and much appreciated by all.

Menu today :

• Beef Chilli Con Carne with rice and salad
• Veggie Chilli with rice and salad
• Swedish Choc Cake and Strwaberries + Yoghurt

New boards to display todays activities!!

Friday Hub at ESK and Steph Ducat welcomed Freya to her first session in the church crypt. Freya. Also welcomed a visitor for GG Richmond, which I have not seen in a while. the one and only cyclist Chris. Freya was on tea station duties with Siobhan from 11am and had some nice chats with the visitors. They made a great team. It was also Chris first community mission at the Ealing Soup Kitchen and was the man in charge of the shower : giving tickets then calling the visitors when it was their turn. Provided fresh underwear, socks, towels and the shower gel, but also ensured that all spent the correct amount of time singer in the shower. Welcome to ESK Freya and Chris. On the other hand, Steph Ducat was in the kitchen cooking food with the usual suspects Andrew and Marie. But also helped Angela sort some IT cables/ laptops in the office and also helped a regular fix his trolley wheel as came off. Freya came and stirred the gravy that we were preparing for lunch. Chris was impressed on how organised it was and also loved the fact that chess sets were out with several visitors competing against each other.

Steph Ducat carried on in the kitchen to serve food with Andrew and Marie. Dishes today were :

• Beef Sausages with mixed vegetables, homemade mash and gravy
• Veggie sausages with mash and veggies
• Sticky toffee cake with ice cream
• Cake with cream(delivered by local business)

Bananas were also given out.

Smooth service and the food went down like a treat.

Today was special for Steph as joined and did his 1st community mission with Good Gym Ealing exacty 2 years today : 23rd May 2023

Dining service reaching the end as nearly 3pm : both Jacquie and Steph Ducat stayed for another shift to finish a great service at ESK. You could hear the leftover food whisper : take me away ! Steph Ducat was getting takeaway boxes ready, which Jacquie was handing out to customers and other volunteers. That was an "encore" for the casserole!!Then we were on a cleaning spree with some of the regular volunteers, feeling scrub-tacular! The cleaning crew came and went leaving the area sparkling clean!!