Wednesday 6th November
Report written by Rachel Levick
Last night we channelled our original GoodGym roots by combining a group run and a good deed – something that we don’t always get to do in Nottingham.
Bozena, Peter, Rosemarie and Rachel met at the Bridgeway Hall Methodist Centre to head out on a jog around the local area. It was one of those evenings when half of us were running late due to traffic and general life/work chaos, so we set off a little later than planned, but we still managed a gentle 1.15 miler led by Peter.
On return to the Bridgeway Hall, we met with Leah and first time GoodGymer Faizah and the six of us enjoyed a few stretches while we waited to start the task. At 7pm we were joined by Tom and we all headed in to meet Mark from the Meadows Foodbank who, as always, greeted us with open arms and a list of tasks that he had lined up for us.
We spent the next hour hard at work around the foodbank. Peter and Tom took on the task of sweeping and mopping all the floors in the main store area and kitchen. Rosemarie and Faizah tackled a huge pile of carrier bags, dividing them into piles based on their durability (‘bag for life’, ‘bag for a few years but not life’ (?), ‘slightly less sturdy bag’, ‘paper bag’ etc etc…).
Aided by Mark’s son, Leah squashed down a pile of cardboard to leave outside for recycling. They then moved onto packing six 2-person boxes and two children’s boxes with food and supplies. Rachel cleaned the fridges and freezers and gave the pantry area a sweep and mop.
Meanwhile, Bozena had the unique task of sorting through a pile of donated books to see which were to go on the shelf in the foodbank and which would be better donated to charity. She had a great time checking out a range of ‘classics’, including a magic book where the contents disappeared and reappeared again before our eyes!
Of course we had a group photo before we left and it was great to see so many GoodGym t-shirts on show (not always possible at this time of year when we’re all covered up). Don’t we look lovely!
Well done to Faizah for completing her first GoodGym task. It was lovely to meet you!
Thanks to Mark for hosting us once again at the Meadows Foodbank. We will make a date to come back very soon.
how we help Hope Nottingham's vision is to 'inspire and grow communities of Hope throughout Nottingham and beyond'. We are a Christian charity, which supports those of all faith or none. We work in shared mission with local churches and community groups, empowering volunteers to serve those in need in neighbourhoods all around Nottingham. Hope House in Beeston and our newly developed Carlton Community Hub have become one-stop community support centres, working in partnership with many local agencies, to provide places of trust and transformation for local people. Hope Nottingham operates many neighbourhood Foodbanks across the city, helping people out of crisis and directing people to life-changing support. Some of these centres are beginning to develop the same model as Hope House to meet the physical, material and spiritual needs of local communities.
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To make the allotment a better place for the children