A welcome return visit to see Chris at the Crisis Warehouse this evening, and as always he had just the job for us - after a quick H&S brief (how heavy is this bag?), it was into the warehouse for our intrepid gang of ten, which included first timers Ieva and Steve, and straight to work, as there were a lot of bags of clothes to be shifted, sorted, counted and repacked in the various cages, so as to make life much easier for both Chris and his delivery drivers when they come to transition the range in the Crisis shops on the high street from Summer to Winter wear.

With a rough plan drawn up (tallest to the front...try and avoid an avalanche of sacks), it was then a chain gang effort to get the mixture of bags from all the different shops across London out of the storage cage, sorted by location (Hackney, Camberwell, Elephant & Castle, Hackney, Streatham, Hackney, Kilburn...did I mention Hackney...), identified either by the colour of the cable tie at the top, or more helpfully where the shop had written the source on the label.

The second half then involved counting the number of bags for each shop, and returning them back into their respective correct cages, stacking Jenga style where required, ensuring labels were visible at all times. After an hour of pretty intense manual labour, and with blackened hands to show for our efforts, the final whistle was blown with all bags in their respective cages and the totals marked and taped above them. Yet again Chris awarded us the honour of "Best volunteers of the day", and after a quick tidy up, we ran back to Freaks and Geeks for some welcome, and well earned, refreshment.

Next week we're at the Emmanuel Church helping Sybil and her fellow volunteers to tidy up the garden, and there might just be some post match refreshments to enjoy too...

If it's possible to have a warm, but cooler evening, then tonight was it - the recent hot weather has certainly re-calibrated the comfort scale, especially when it comes to running.

We all looked forward to a return visit to Wild Green E13, Plaistow's most lovingly cared for community garden, and our host Fleur was on site to welcome us when we arrived - Hilary and Graham had run from our usual meeting spot at Freaks and Geeks, Nick from Plaistow, and Bea arrived in one piece on her bike.

Once we'd got the container unlocked, it was clear this evening's task would be watering to try and keep the young plants, vegetables and all the contents of the wooden planter boxes alive. Our biggest challenge soon proved to be having enough water to get everything done as their giant water butt was running low and it had been a while since there'd been any top up, either via mother nature or from the local fire brigade.

However, low water wasn't going to stop us and we soon had a production line running to get watering cans filled and roots watered as best we could. As Graham stood over the tank eeking out the very last of the drops, it was apparent we had exhausted this particular task, but as always, Fleur was very grateful for our efforts. We'll be back here again in September, by which time there will hopefully have been a rain shower or two to give the plants a drink.

We set off on a cooler run back to our start point, and diverted into the pub for some well earned refreshment - this time not needing to rely on the last drops from a water container to rehydrate us...

Next week we'll be helping out on the planters at Barnard Grove - join us if you can, those plants really need our help!

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/maintenance-of-planters-on-barnard-grove-19198e61-72a0-4c49-8904-5a150c05553a

We were pleased to be joined by parkrun's event delivery director Helen this morning, along with her son, who had been staying nearby in Dalston, and so saw a Sunday morning parkrun volunteering opportunity at the Fields - she'd asked if she could lead the warm up and who were we to turn down such a request.

With marshals recruited from the parent group (including a couple of first timers...thank you), Rue on timekeeping duty and Hilary as Tailwalker, Run Director Nick did the safety briefing before handing over the stage to Helen to get our 24 runners (plus coaches and tail walker) fully warmed up.

It's fair to say she put them through their paces, but everyone joined in, following all the movements (including mimicking different varieties of beans...you had to be there) with much enthusiasm and excellent synchronisation.

With warm up complete, and a few still catching their breath, it was to the start and Rue counting down 3-2-1...and they were off for another two laps of the Fields in perfect running conditions, with Hilary ensuring no-one was left behind.

Another successful Sunday, great to have Helen join us along with all our other volunteers - same time, same place next week, but the warm up may be a little less energetic...