2 GoodGymers powered through (in record time!) a busy afternoon at Borough Food Co-op.

Ivar put his strong muscles to work unloading a massive delivery from the truck, packed with heavy crates full of fruit, veg and cans. Once everything was inside, Ivar and Chandrima got stuck into quality checking and crate-mixing apples, pears, bananas, oranges, onions, carrots, parsnips, big potatoes, leeks and sweetheart cabbages to create colourful, ready-to-go displays for distribution.

The tin taskforce then took over for a very satisfying sorting session. First up were towers of canned tuna chunks, sardines and mackerel fillets in every possible liquid (brine, sunflower oil and spring water), all unloaded, separated and stacked so the right tins were easy to find. That was followed by a sea of store-cupboard staples: cans of baked beans, butter beans, chopped tomatoes, marrowfat peas and mushy peas were all sorted into neat groups. On top of that, crates of Diet Coke, Dr Pepper and Korean lemonade were unloaded and arranged so the shelves looked full but tidy.

With Ivar now very close to the brilliant milestone of 200 good deeds – and plenty more deeds to come for 200+ – the pair rounded things off with a quick clean-up, sweeping the floors and wiping down desks so everything was left spotless for the next session.

Big Cheers to Ivar for being a champ and an inspiration to newbie GG-ers! 💪🏻

2 GoodGymers kicked off a very productive Monday morning at Borough Food Co-op, helping keep things running smoothly behind the scenes.

The session kicked off with a very satisfying freezer task: wiping down and neatly stacking around 100 frozen boxes of aubergine tagine with vermicelli rice, making sure everything was clean, organised and easy to grab for future distribution. That was followed by unloading and storing roughly 30 egg cartons and a batch of milk bottles, plus sorting various blocks of butter.

Anna left no time to waste before getting stuck into the potato workout – unloading heavy sacks, quality checking them, and crate‑mixing the spuds into a neat, eye‑catching display! After that, Chandrima stored away various lentils (red and brown), plus pinto beans and chickpeas to keep the dry goods area looking calm rather than chaotic.

To round things off, cardboard boxes were flattened for recycling, and a stack of veg crates got a deep clean so they were fresh, hygienic and all set for other volunteers to use for future crate‑mixing sessions.

Two GoodGymers, Chandrima and Kamil, spent the session getting seriously stuck in: unloading a huge delivery batch and stacking those colour-coded crates like a fun puzzle, then labelling and freezing 30+ cartons of Jus-Rol puff pastry with spot-on expiry dates.

We mixed up trays packed with veg stars (potatoes, onions, parsnips, cabbages, carrots), fruity favourites (bananas, apples), and handy toiletries (diapers, toilet rolls, shampoos, shower gels), while giving fresh produce like parsnips, potatoes, and carrots a solid quality check.

The grand finale? Smashing through recycling 50+ cardboard boxes, scrubbing crates till they gleamed, and slicing egg cartons into neat 6-egg packs for later use. Pure volunteering joy – teamwork, sweat, and that satisfying “job well done” vibe!

Glad to pitch in for the afternoon session too!

A veggie mountain was tackled first: Crates of curly green kale, regular green kale, purple kale, leeks, cabbages, carrots, potatoes and green beans were unloaded, quality-checked and mixed ready for distribution. Fruits got the same love – unloaded, checked and crate-mixed a sizeable portion of bananas and raspberries!

Crates of thyme, rosemary, land cress and at least 50 boxes of tomatoes were then thoroughly quality-checked and safely stored in the veggie freezer.

And lastly cardboard boxes got smashed and flattened for recycling, plastic and food waste got sorted, and floors were mopped till they gleamed.

A solid GoodGym session :)

Borough Food Cooperative supports ~ 25–30 households each week with nutritious groceries that would otherwise go to waste.

It was an absolute pleasure to lend a hand to their mission! I kicked off my Monday morning by unloading a huge delivery from The Felix Project, then storing 40+ packs of milk in the freezer along with 20+ blocks of butter, neatly split into salted and unsalted. Also found homes for various tubs of Greek yoghurt, chocolate fudge and bottles of green smoothies.

The mission continued with sorting different meats – prosciutto, hazelnut pavé, salmon and chicken breast – into the right sections, before moving on to a very zen pasta task. Around 3 kg of penne was divided into 15 bags of 200 g each, with every bag labelled with an ingredient list, turning a big bulk donation into easy-to-distribute portions.

It was a reunion for those who’ve been away in far off lands: Erinna in Oz and AJ in the US. Along with Jo and Katie, they all joined in and completed the usual FB delivery, sort and stock tasks. Baby D was as cute as ever, but soon enough, he’ll be striking out on his own and on the move out of his fun stacking trays.