The appeall went out. Deliveries were arriving at the food bank on Sunday, and volunteers were needed to unload the goodies and sort the food, ready to be collected by the bank's customers the following morning,

GoodGymers responded: there was a group of six of us there on Sunday afternoon, and we worked quickly and efficiently. But we weren't quick enough for some of the "use by" dates on the packaging,; we didn't want to be poisoning anyone, that's just not one of GoodGym's stated aims.

Lobo was there before any of us; if any volunteering is happening in the borough, he's sure to be there. Ilana arrived slightly later (as promised), so we quickly inducted her, based (roughly) on what we'd already heard.

Karim sneaked in while we weren't looking, and kept making the mistake of asking John for advice. Oliver carried several heavy boxes at a time, as if they were cow parsley at Tower Hamlets cemetery.

Having wandered round Bethnal Green in ever deceasing circles trying to find us, Sree did an amazing job in deciding what to do with a whole crate of "Amazon" ketchup, presumably unsold from one of that company's shops which always lack any customers.

Within a short space of time, everything was neatly sorted and crated. leaving us time to go out and enjoy the sunshine while it lasted.

SPECIAL CALL OUT FOR THIS WEEK Fast becoming a favourite 4 me..

Good Gym have worked with Bow and Bethnal Green foodbanks many time in the past and they've asked for our help again with their Wednesday Afternoon session which involves sorting donations , packing fish, veg, meat and kids bags, distributing bags to client, queue control and generally helping out with any tasks the session leader might give you..

Ramon

Kash, Ricardo and Sevan spent the afternoon at Bethnal Green Food Bank upgrading their food bank skills. Kash was assigned to Team Baby to prepare childrens' food bags, while Ricardo and Sevan were put into team In-n-Out to prepare the space outside the food bank and to bring deliveries into the storage areas.

Ricardo and Sevan started on the easy level, erecting one gazebo at a time for new clients to register at on Monday, learning from each one and applying their improved skills to the next. Kash too was on Level 1 of preparing baby bags, with each bag containing a tin of beans, one of mandarins and some baby wash.

Once the team had mastered the beginner level, they were given a more complicated task. For Kash, level 2 added a tinned pudding to the mix for an extra little bit of complexity. Beans, mandarins, wash, pudding. Beans, mandarins, wash, pudding. For Sevan and Ricardo, their task was different, to deliver tables and chairs ready to be placed outside first thing in the morning. Lift, walk, avoid collisions, drop. Lift, walk, avoid collisions, drop.

For the next level, Kash had 5 things to remember with a jar of jam added to the bag. Beans, mandarins, wash, pudding, jam. Beans, mandarins, wash, pudding, jam. Sevan and Ricardo had a delivery to unload. Ricardo was unloading boxes of fruit and veg onto each trolley while Sevan wheeled the trolleys to the fridge and back, to the fridge and back, to the fridge and back...

Finally, all 3 joined forces to fill the main grocery bags. Here too, they were going in circles, repeating their steps. Ricardo was ripping open boxes over and over to keep the pickers fed. Sevan and Kash picked, walking in small circles around the stock room. Bag, milk, cereal, tins of tomatoes, beans, pilchards and tuna. Bag, milk, cereal, tins of tomatoes, beans, pilchards and tuna. So it went until all the bags were filled.

After the repetition of the first 2 hours. The last task of a day was very different. A fresh food delivery had arrived in crates and it needed to be split into dairy, meat, fruit, veg, "other" and expired. Everyone dived into the crates to see what they could find. Salad leaves, coconut and grapes could all be found together, or chicken biryani with tomatoes and bread. The volunteers were like ants scurrying around, trying to group them sensibly before they were all moved into the fridge.

It was great to work in a big team during the shift to prepare so many food bags for those in need. You can find future sessions to help Bethnal Green Food Bank here

Two Goodgymers helped out the regular foodbank team to sort food and toiletries ready to be handed out to clients on Monday. We sorted, counted, stacked and weighed the new donations. Then it was all hands on deck for the final countdown to 3:30pm to unload a fresh food delivery.

Aine and goodgym newbie Byron met bright and early at 7.30 on a Monday morning to lend a much needed helping hand to Bethnal Green Foodbank.

After Aine and Fiona had helped out the day before in a shortened Sunday task window there were some left over sorting and stock taking tasks that Aine and Byron jumped on board with alongside about 15-20 other volunteers who were co-ordinating the client day at the site. This also included unpacking deliveries from our friends over at Felix Project.

In between stock jobs Byron helped out with shopping on behalf of clients (their order is sent through to the iPad, Byron got their bag and extras and delivered to them outside) while Aine generally ran around showing volunteers the site which is new to the usual Monday gang but old to anyone who’s previously volunteered on Tuesdays or Wednesdays (“where does this go? Where do we keep this? Where is the coffee??” - all important questions for such an early task.)

Bow foodbank continue to need our help with handy Sunday afternoon or pre work Monday morning tasks coming over the next few weeks.

See below link to sign up next Monday https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/new-monday-morning-session-bg-foodbank-distribution-session-07c2083a-9e70-4106-b41f-e2d64bf15bf3

or next Sunday https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/new-sunday-session-bg-foodbank-packing-session-e47d20c7-540d-4fe6-9fdb-aa0fe4a7b3aa

The foodbank has recently relocated and they really appreciated the extra help on their Sunday shift to set up and organise for the following day. It was a race against the clock to pack food bags for the hundreds of clients they support and help unload and sort the food deliveries which arrived. The foodbank is a lifeline for many and it requires a large operation behind the scenes every Sunday and Tuesday to allow the foodbank to open and operate effectively on Mondays and Wednesdays. The friendly team work hard to pack, sort and stack various food items and toiletries. They are also a social bunch from the local area. So if you have a few hours free, come and lend a hand to this great cause at one of their upcoming shifts.

See next Sundays shift here - https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/new-sunday-session-bg-foodbank-packing-session-e47d20c7-540d-4fe6-9fdb-aa0fe4a7b3aa

And next Monday here - https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/new-monday-morning-session-bg-foodbank-distribution-session-07c2083a-9e70-4106-b41f-e2d64bf15bf3