Cold, dark and busy Saturday evening on the Strand which saw 4 goodgymers turned up to serve hot vegetable biryani, biscuits and hot beverages. Hot drink session was busy as cold evening. Tonight's rice was not as much in demand as usual as the previous group left later than usual and also served rice. We still had some containers which Gurseva crew was going to drop at a local care home. Tonight we welcomed Ines on her 1st ever Goodgym session : well done on doing a 1st mission outdoors in very cold conditions.

Ms G and I have got the routine pretty much nailed - list, empties so I know what to look for, money, clubcard and bags, and off I went in search of a mix of items to keep her supplied for another week.

It took me quite a few turns around the aisles to find the very elusive kitchen foil, but everything else largely fell into the basket, so I must be getting more and more familiar with this particular branch of Tesco!

A swift two parter today - to the local halal butcher for some chicken (and cloudy apple cider vinegar, but this was sadly out of stock...) and then onto Aldi for the rest of Miss N's list. The butcher even diced the chicken whilst I stood in the queue at another counter to pay, with a paper chit with the price hand written on it. Local shops do offer an amazing service...

When I rang Mr R's bell this afternoon, an unexpected visitor opened the door and said "Ah, you must be The Shopper"...it turned out Mr R's cousin was visiting for a few days, and being a little more sprightly (Mr R's words) had made it to the front door first!

With suitable introductions made, it was then a quick and productive trip around the aisles to get him everything he needed for the week.

Gail and Steph Ducat were at the Strand early as usual and were waiting for the van to come as was stuck in Central London traffic. Some of the regulars were happy to see the Goodgymers as knew lovely vegetable biryani was on its way. Once the van arrived, it was action time as the team served a freshly made hot biryani and the hot drinks were welcome in this cold. Special treat with the hot beverages : biscuits which disappeared in minutes. One of the regular volunteers thought that I, Steph Ducat was undercover. Yes Goodgym undercover helping Gurseva....in fact he said I was an undercover police officer 👮‍♀️

Another well planned mission with Ms G this afternoon - she had everything to hand ready for my arrival - I even found the right front door this time. Her list was clear, and everything apart from Vinegar was on the shelves of her local Tesco - fortunately there was a local mini market a few doors down that had the missing Sarsons (large bottle...). Ms G is always so very grateful when I return with her treasure.