There were 158 youngsters at Pitshanger Junior parkrun this morning - the highest number to date. And 25 volunteers to ensure they all got safely round the course. I was marshalling along the path by the river and they just kept coming! A lovely morning got so many young ones out of bed and running in the sunshine.

I was once again on finish token duty at Southall parkrun today. Unfortunately volunteers were few and far between this morning and at least one of the faster runners doubled up as a volunteer. 96 runners but they were reasonably spaced out so I was able to manage without dropping any tokens! It’s a lovely event and one of the friendliest parkruns out there so it’s always a pleasure to help out.

Extra session this month at Pitshanger Junior Parkrun and as its the end of the holiday and back to school. Today we had 112 children present!!! Highest number since October 2024.Its was Maria first time at Pitshanger and she was marshal at pint 8 where some children try to cut the corners. Jacquie was on finishers tokens. Steph Ducat was on marshal point 7. alot of high 5 today as 112 children.

It was a lovely sunny morning at Southall parkrun and I was on finish token duty. It’s a pleasant and easy role - just don’t drop the tokens! Well, it was easy until one local runner crossed the line wearing a straitjacket 😂 Fortunately one of the nearby scanners took his token. How to make a 5k even harder - this runner does have world records for running a marathon and half marathon in a straitjacket so this morning must have been an easy run in the park for him!

For those of you who are old enough - there were no penguins! But 59 youngsters came out on a glorious Sunday morning to run Pitshanger Junior parkrun. I was marshalling at station one where I got to see the lead runner come home in just over seven minutes - but also got lots of high-fives from the little ones. It’s always a delight to help out with the juniors - especially on such a lovely morning.

No - not the singer but a delicious lunch for clients today. Chefs Andrew and Arul excelled themselves with meatloaf, mashed potatoes, beans and onion gravy. There was a vegetable stir fry with rice for the vegetarians. It was a busy day at the Hub with games, English lessons, exercises, showers, food parcels, clothes distribution and lunch for the clients. Even with a shortage of volunteers, everything went like clockwork and saw a lot of satisfied clients.

I was on kitchen duty at the Soup Kitchen this morning and that meant chopping onions for the vegetable stir fry and then onion gravy. Raw onions always mean tears for me but I managed to get through it. Kitchen shifts involve whatever needs doing so there were dishes and pots to wash, tables to organise and general cleaning up to be done. All in time for the lunch service.