Friday 26th July
Report written by Tammy
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!
Food Bank Aid is a grassroots charity supporting North London Food Banks from Bushey to Tottenham and everywhere in-between. They operate in Barnet, Brent, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Harrow, Herts and Islington which together, help around 14,000 vulnerable people including 4000 children every week. They are a community-led charity which supports all denominations and demographics.
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