Always a joy helping out the Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre team! Their cheerfulness is so contagious that a six-hour session felt more like six minutes. ❤️

Chandrima and Brenda kicked things off by sorting trays of 12-pack egg cartons into 6-packs, ready for easier distribution to the community. Valentine’s Day energy was still in the air as we carefully split bundles of roses into mini bouquets of three stems each, popped into buckets with flower food so they’d stay fresh and be simple to hand out. 🌹

Next up was a satisfying round of crate-mixing and shelf-filling: cans of Coca-Cola Zero, cartons and bottles of milk, then rice, pasta, and an impressive line-up of tins including baked beans, butter beans, green lentils, chopped Italian tomatoes, red kidney beans, black-eyed beans, chicken soup and vegetable soup. Once everything was in place, we moved straight into a busy Friday distribution session. Chandrima was responsible for the carbs, sauces, and tinned food sections. And Brenda was in charge of the fruits. Today we helped around 80 people in urgent need of food support! 💖

This was followed by a full clean-up so the space was ready for the week ahead.

The sweetest moment – in every sense – came at the end, when a lovely lady who receives support from VGCC surprised the team and GoodGym volunteers with a scrumptious homemade cake to thank us for our help. Sharing a slice together after a long, heartwarming session was the perfect way to wrap up a Valentine-tinged day of community kindness! 🍰✨