Paul’s report

From Tacos to Tins: My Food Bank Adventure I hopped on my bike and pedaled for 20 minutes from home to reach the Food Bank hub at the Lido retail park in Finchley. Fun fact: this spot used to be a Mexican restaurant! Now, it’s the bustling delivery point for supermarkets supplying mini food banks all over North London. As I arrived, I was greeted by a team of friendly folks, all working diligently to sort through deliveries. We unboxed items and carefully stacked them into crates. Sometimes, we even went eight crates high (shh, don’t tell anyone—it’s technically frowned upon, but desperate times call for creative stacking!). Tammy, another first-timer like me, joined the mission. Let’s give her a shout-out! Together, we tackled our first task: unwrapping tins and neatly arranging them in the crates. The teamwork was heartwarming. I wielded a special box cutter—a trusty sidekick in our food-saving adventure. As we worked, there were drinks and snacks to keep us fueled. The hours flew by, thanks to the camaraderie and shared purpose. This isn’t a one-time thing. GoodGym community missions like this happen regularly. I encourage everyone to give it a go! Not only do you help others, but you also get a dose of exercise. After my rewarding day, I hopped back on my bike, cycling 20 minutes home. It’s a win-win—I’m doing good while doing myself some good

Tammys report. Great. The event organiser in me got a system going for the unboxing 50 boxes full of mixed veg, oil, canned goods and fruit. We all managed to pull together to finish all deliveries by 5pm….so efficient that i could leave early. Met some lovely people including Paul…my Barnet team leader!

It was a fun couple of hours, just me helping the regulars at the Food Bank Distribution Centre. Earlier shifts had done loads of work, but two deliveries arrived after 3pm from supermarkets. Lots of jam, flour, sugar, cereal, some onions and similar stuff. We also sorted some individual donations, so there was a lot of bending and sorting, going back and forth between aisles. They had Wimbledon on in the background, with the occasional offer of a cup of tea, and the main contact had a hard rock playlist going to keep the energy up.

.... only because we have unloaded 100s and 100s of tins of sardines and tuna!! :)

it's been a busy afternoon but very rewarding to complete all tasks today!

don't miss out on the opportunity to volunteer at Food Bank Aid, such a grape cause and you will meat berry cool volunteers. Check out all the friday sessions and join us!

keep up the good work GGers!

What a way to end the last Food Bank Aid volunteering shift of the year!

It's clearly getting closer to Xmas as the Food hub was full to the bream with donations!

Justine was volunteering at the Food Bank Aid hub for the first thyme and has done an eggcelent job sorting out all the donations and supermarket deliveries. You would think she is done it all her life! She Veni, vidi, vici since she walked through that door!

It's bean non-stop today from 3.30pm until 5pm! Cloud & Justine were joint with 13 other keen volunteers!

The buzz and the pace was electrifying today! We sorted out presents, wrapping paper, xmas puddings, chocolate boxes and 100s of other items that will be sent to local food banks next week.

The Food Bank Aid supports over 14000 people each week, 4000 of those are children.

We will be posting more missions to the Food Bank Aid hub in the NY, keep an eye on the calendar!

keep up the great work GGers!

Peas & Loaf

Simone and Claudia met at the Food Bank Aid this afternoon and spent few hours helping out organise all the food deliveries.

We were joined by another Food Bank volunteer and the three of us worked none stop to complete what seemed like an impossible task.

We got there and there were food bags and Sainsbury’s and Tesco crates everywhere. Have a look at the before and after pictures.

The team did a cracking job!

Keep up the great work.

Peas & loaf GGers!

Loads to do today at the food bank!

Laura Creek and Cloud spent an hour an a half at the hub today. We have unloaded a couple of supermarket cages full of milk, jelly, washing up liquid and beans.

Never a dull day at the bank!

Peace & loaf