Last week's community mission to make donations to the Vineyard saw us basking in glorious sunshine as we dropped off our bags of goodies. Not so this time, as intermittent heavy rain meant pretty much everyone got soaked as they made their delivery (except EL who managed to dodge the downpour as she popped down, only being splashed by one car on the way and catching a glimpse of the sun on arrival - lucky thing!). That said, not everyone minded the rain - Kate had a jolly old time jumping in the puddles on her walk!

The Vineyard Community Centre, which runs the local foodbank services in Richmond, is still struggling to cope with the drop-off in donations from suppliers and individuals as a result of the disruption caused by Covid-19, but of course the demand remains as great if not greater. So it was great to see the GG crew made it out in force despite the last of the April showers.

So we all went for a trip to the bank. The food bank, that is - where today we were happy to meet the bank manager, discuss the status of our bank balance, consider investing and ultimately make a deposit. Sorry about the puns, just wanted to make a bank statement.

As before, the most urgently needed items are long-life foodstuffs, so we were really left carrying the can. Or cans. Not to mention cartons, boxes, packets, tubs, jars, bottles and bags. All the food was gratefully received, and we were told that it would be going straight back out the door to the needy recipients as the demand is so high. It's critical work we're doing her, so big thanks to everyone who made it down this time.

We will continue to make donations at the Vineyard as long as they need us to, and work is going on to increase the impact we're having by coordinating collection/drop-off from other local residents who cannot make it to the Vineyard in the allotted time. In the meantime, look out for a new listing for donations next week - and remember you can do it on Monday or Thursday 12.30 - 4.30pm.

Finally, a warm welcome to Bex, new to GG Richmond and on her first community mission today - it seems odd not to be able to meet people on a group run in the usual way, but we're super happy to have you on the team and look forward to the time you can join us for one of Mark's famous warm-ups and a task in the local area!