There is no greater feeling than standing shoulder to shoulder with people who care. Today, thanks to 6 amazing GoodGymers and the tireless VGCC team, we were able to serve our community with speed and a smile. It’s more than just a meal, it’s about making sure everyone feels seen and cared for. We are endlessly grateful for this family!

Today was a productive day, involving a quick setup for tomorrow's clients, such as packing chicken, filling sauces into containers, sorting arrivals, and logging deliveries.

It was a 🌞 17-degree day at VGCC as 3 GG-ers kicked off by unloading 2 huge deliveries packed with crates of fruit, veg, milk, bread, snacks, cheesecake, protein bars and meat.

🥔🧅 Once everything was inside, we quality checked onions and potatoes for crate-mixing before safely storing them. Jessica wasted no time in splitting a massive sack of penne pasta into various smaller, equally weighed bags. Susan and Chandrima tackled various packets of chicken, dividing the packets into smaller portions of 11 pieces, carefully labelling halal and non-halal meat before storing it safely in the freezer.🐔

🥛🧀 We also made sure all the milk, cheese and yoghurt were stowed away in chilled storage, crate-mixed the protein bars 💪 and crisps, quality checked the fruits (bananas and raspberries) before their safe storage, then finished up by cleaning down every surface and breaking down the cardboard boxes for recycling so the space was spotless and ready for the next session! 🧽♻️

Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre serves around 80–120 families and individuals in crisis every Friday with short-term food support. It was an absolute GoodGym takeover today, with 6 GoodGymers giving it their all during a marathon 6-hour shift: three hours of prep (9–12 pm) followed by three hours of full-on distribution (12–3 pm).

Our three seasoned GoodGym vets – Brenda, Chandrima and Susan – enthusiastically led the charge, joined by three fantastic newbies: Ayan, Aysha and Rafa. A very warm welcome guys!

Together they left no stone (or spud) unturned: every single crate was meticulously quality checked before crate-mixing mountains of veg including parsnips, potatoes, broccoli, cabbages, red onions and carrots. They also put serious muscles to use lifting, unloading and sorting heavy crates full of cereal, pasta, rice, vermicelli noodles, loads of frozen meats (chicken, pork, beef), cans of fizzy drinks, mixed beans, snacks - crisps, flapjacks & buns, and bottles of various pasta sauces. Once the eye-catching fruit, veg, meat and snacks display was ready, all 6 got busy with distribution, greeting everyone with big smiles and making sure each person left with both a full bag and a full smile!

True to their hardcore engineer roots, the newbies crew even squeezed in some AI chat, sharing fun ideas about how it will change things for the better. And honestly, after today’s session, it feels like the future’s in pretty good hands.

We’re already looking forward to seeing our brilliant newbies back for many more Friday sessions!