This session supported The Felix Project at its Poplar warehouse, where volunteers help sort and manage donated food for redistribution across London. Its Poplar depot was designed to rescue and distribute 2,780 tonnes of food a year, the equivalent of 6.5 million meals.

The task involved working through two picking lists across both the ambient and chilled zones, assembling substantial food orders for charity and community groups. Items included sacks of potatoes with specific received-by dates, trays of cabbages, green beans, Driscoll’s blackberries, milk with use-by dates, quince, baby gem lettuce, vine tomatoes and mushrooms, all of which had to be checked, categorised and placed accurately.

Once both orders had been built on large wooden crates, each load was wrapped securely in cellophane to prevent anything shifting in transit. The final step was using a powered pallet jack to move the two heavy loads, each weighing around 300kg, to the correct collection zones safely and efficiently.

The session finished with a final sorting task, reorganising packets of number-coded, recipe-specific ingredients so that each crate contained one complete set. It was a satisfying and practical mission and I look forward to coming back soon!