Each Monday morning, GoodGym lends a hand at the South Ealing Food Cupboard, helping the team of volunteers get surplus food sorted and ready to support the local community. This week, Martin and Iram were treated to a bumper haul and a cracking challenge.

Fresh from the farm came bunches of muddy spring onions, heaps of carrots and courgettes, juicy watermelons, herbs, lettuce, and strawberries - a proper summer spread. But the real surprise came in the form of eggs. So many eggs. We estimated around 750 in total, the first time in months the Food Cupboard had received any eggs.

The catch? Not a single one came pre-packaged. So we got eggstra creative. With only a handful of cartons available, we portioned them into dozens, half dozens, or packs of four using anything we could find, including repurposed nectarine punnets and the original egg packaging which we carefully cut down to size. It was part jigsaw, part balancing act, and fully a test of our steady hands. There may have been a few casualties along the way!

It was a cracking session (pun intended) and a great example of teamwork, resourcefulness, and keeping good food out of the bin and into the hands of those who need it most.

Another month and more litter picked by the Goodgymers locally : Trash talk leads to a dirty reputation in a litter-free zone and Crime never pays, but littering might cost you a clean slate.

This week’s South Ealing Food Cupboard mission started off unusually calm. Stephane and Iram had plenty of time to enjoy the sunshine and chat while we waited over an hour for the delivery, delayed, but not forgotten!

When it finally arrived, the calm quickly turned into chaos. The delivery was significantly larger than usual, and with patrons already waiting beyond the normal start time, it became a fast-paced unpacking frenzy.

We unloaded a mountain of food: heaps of potatoes, bunches of bananas, stacks of instant noodles, and a fridge and a half full of sour cream sachets. Open HelloFresh boxes added to the mystery meal vibe, and someone even donated a bag of fresh tomatoes from their allotment - a lovely personal touch! Of course, all this abundance came with an avalanche of cardboard to recycle, which kept us busy right to the end.

From peaceful beginnings to a mad dash unpack, it was another rewarding (and slightly sweaty) session at the Food Cupboard.