Jacquie arrived at the ESK this morning to a warm welcome - they were very short of volunteers today. Jacquie spent the morning in the kitchen chopping vegetables for two big pots of salad. Lunch was cooked by Arul, beef or vegetable pasta with salad. Stayed on a bit to help serve and left around later than planned. Super star!!

At Pitshanger Junior parkrun this morning, there were big cheers for one runner who received a grey wristband. What does a grey wristband mean, I hear you ask? It shows that they have run 100 Junior parkruns and to celebrate, they brought everyone a tub of sweets to share 🍬🙌.

There were 5 GoodGymers who were in the park early on a Sunday to help make the event a success. Jacquie, Gaby and Steph were marshaling around the course, making sure that everyone made it round safely. Kash and Sevan were in the funnel area, with Kash taking on her favourite role, barcode scanning and Sevan was timekeeping.

In all, 86 runners completed the course, with many of them dipping their hand into the tub of sugary treats. One of them was hungrier than the others:

"I want 4 sweets" - Runner
"Why do you want 4?" - Barcode Scanner
"Because I like 4" - Runner

Eventually they were negotiated down from 4 packs of sweets to 2, leaving more for the other children and adults to share.

It was a hot one in the kitchen today! Jacquie was on tea/coffee on her first session of the day. She then helped Arul serve until 3pm - the clients loved the meal. Beef stir fry or a tofu veggie option, both with rice and vegetables. Then there was watermelon and apple strudel for dessert. Luckily there was enough for seconds!Was it brave the treat or brave the heat as it was super hot yesterday in Ealing - the kitchen and being in the crypt of the church does not help.

Jacquie, Roberta and Everton smashed the dining shift at Friday's Ealing Soup Kitchen, serving baked chicken or veg ratatouille to the clients. A special kudos to Everton, who got himself straight into deep water, rising to the occasion and staying for a part of the very busy shift after his first-ever task in the morning! Well done!

Kash arrived at the Ealing Soup Kitchen at 10 am with her work colleagues and started off the session by peeling off the eyes from potatoes to be given to those clients who had the facilities to cook. In the Soup Kitchen, nothing gets wasted, so the removed sprouts would be taken to a compost bin by Steve, one of the regular volunteers.

Jacquie came shortly after, sporting her brand new black t-shirt - a reward for her 50 good deeds! We mean GoodGym deeds only here, as Jacquie has also been involved in many other fantastic volunteering initiatives, including LAGER Can, parkrun, and Horsenden Hill, to name a few.

It was great to see Roberta back after a short break! She's nearing 50 good deeds too, only 5 tasks away from her own black t-shirt after this morning's Soup Kitchen shift. Together with Jacquie, Roberta served tea, coffee and biscuits to the clients at the tea station and made everyone feel welcome with her smile.

Finally, today's session was a debut from our newest GoodGymer - and a true trendsetter when it comes to way of getting to the tasks! Everton has proven that you can not only walk, run or cycle to do good, but also skateboard! There are no limits to getting active while doing good!

Everton joined Kash at the food parcels where their goal was to test the limits of how many mushrooms, tangerines and potatoes could be fitted into grocery bags for the clients. The conclusion was that there were no limits as the volunteers successfully squeezed in all the surplus. Remember: nothing should be wasted at the Soup Kitchen. We're still wondering about how many people would try cooking jacket potatoes with tangerine topping.

Everton might have expected a more physical aspect of GoodGym, but at the end of today's morning shift, he's been fully engaged with the sport that famously exercises the brain! He played chess with a couple of clients, including Mark, who, as rumours said, last week had defeated all four players with whom he had played games simultaneously! Well done Everton for taking the challenge from the Soup Kitchen's own chess master!