Report to follow

disclaimer: no one got hurt!!

The hub had the TV on playing the weight lifting final. Whilst athletes were lighting +160 kg we were trying to figure out how many crates of pulses or potato sacks that would equal to....

it felt maybe a bit too much for a friday afternoon, so we decided to move into cage fighting! Far more realistic when we had loads and loads of stuff to unpack and unload! the pictures shows all the cages we filled with waste. It was a true fight trying to drive all the cages through the hub aisles and into the outdoor area ready for the council to collect!

Another great mission at the food bank. There was an entire pallet of sugar to unload, hotdogs, kids toothpaste and more. Right up my tetris alley. Looking forward to the next one!

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!