We were delighted to see 5 people expected to attend our morning session at Frenford Food Bank. Ed and Linda started off at a relaxed pace- as there were going to be plenty of people. A local volunteer arrived to help at 11am and it was lucky that she did as no one else came! Overnight 3 GGers had dropped out. I'm sure they have their reasons but it then put pressure on us to up the speed as we had other commitments later. Happy to say the job got done just in time.

We realise people have busy lives but please un-sign if you cant make it.

Another chilly Saturday morning....

Just like last week, a bit of a chill in the air is not stopping the dynamic due of Linda & Ed to get down to Valentines Park and help out with the local parkrun.

As the pictures show, especially Ed was very sharp in spotting hazards and protecting the runners & walkers from slipping on the ice.

The frost does make some lovely scenery though.

3 goodgymmers, 4 Church Goers and several Local Mums teamed up together at Frenford Food Bank. Between us we bagged up over 60 food parcels. With over 1.6km covered (yes we Strava'd it) walking up and down the shelving units, lifting and shifting heavy bags it was agreed we really had worked out by helping out.

The first Saturday parkrun of the year was a chilly one, but that did not deter a good amount of runners & walkers.... and some Goodgymmers as well!

At what is considered GG Redbridge base - Valentines Park - Linda & Ed helped out, with several others running.

GG Redbridge was also represented at Finsbury Park & Roding Valley.

The chilly weather means hands were wrapped up in gloves and phones stayed in pockets, so a couple of xmas parkrun pics instead

a little tidy up post Xmas to get the place ready to resume normal foodbank sessions

'forgot' to take pics, so a stock one will have to do!

Most of us met early to be assigned our roles although one turned up in the Saint Nick of time. 🎅😂

Once we were in post some of us took "Elfies" 🧝 for the report.

Not sure if Santa's Reindeer got caught short but there was some 💩 on the course which required extra vigilant marshaling to help runners avoid messy accidents. Apart from that the track was relatively hazard free and we got 240 runners safely round.

We then made our way to the cafe for a little natter and a snack including a slice of Colin the Red Nosed Caterpillar cake.

Merry Christmas GGR 🌲🥳

4 Good Gymmers and 6 other volunteers teamed up and worked together to get over 60 food parcels prepared for dispatch.

A big welcome to Ali our newest member who worked with a will and seemed to really enjoy it. The other three regular foodbank helpers put in their 2nd shift there this week.

Once finished we helped the volunteer sorting out the Christmas treats, ensuring all the children got a little something.

AJ, Linda and Eddie put in a mega session at Frenford Foodbank. We were expecting a supermarket delivery but not such a big one and there were also four big cages full of Christmas Goodies from Local Businesses as well as our regular Scouts Group donation.

Knowing the next picking and packing session is this week there was no time to waste. Linda and AJ sorted out the donation cages, setting aside the Christmas stuff while Ed offloaded the supermarket delivery. With that job done we ran into "overtime" sorting out the Christmas Chocolates and other goodies and stashing excess stock out back.

AJ conceded defeat when she could no longer reach the top of "Treat Mountain" she said she felt bad leaving us but we were thrilled that she'd come in as a late sign up and done such stirling work - we had thought there would just be the two of us. Ed and Linda did stay on a little longer to finish the unpacking but we had to leave the rubbish and empty crate clearance the task owner as hunger pangs were hitting by then.

Most of our members are working full time so its surprising how often we get volunteers when a shout goes out for a bit of weekday help at Frenford FoodBank. This week our Kathryn was an available, welcome member of our team. There was not much in the way of donations this week so Linda started tidying the upper shelves while Ed off loaded donations. Kathryn arrived and given the choice declared she was too short for the high shelves so gave Ed a hand.

With those jobs done Kathryn and Linda set about tidying and relabeling shelves. We were being careful to stack tins the right way up as some people get irritated by poor aesthetics but its not always easy...see photo. Being at opposite ends of the height scale the job was easily divided up coming together in the middle ground of stocking up the tea shelf. Meanwhile Ed got involved in stock rotation.

Nice teamwork people.