Friday 24th November 2023
Report written by Sam Lefevre (he/him)
Nope, it's not so workout regime, but the feeling the GoodGymers who attended this Get Rid Of And Donate (GROAD) donation distribution session at Peckham's Best Western hotel felt.
Sam met up with Antonietta, George, Greta, Hayley and Victoria as they helped Andrea unload her van into the main lobby space of this hotel that is now accommodating asylum seekers and refugee families. The main task was to setup for items per category in the space they were given. Antonietta hanged the clothes on the clothing rail, Greta took care of displaying the paired shoes whilst George, Hayley, Sam and Victoria folded baby and children's clothes and occasionally getting a miscellaneous item to display.
We ensured all the items were put for display even before midday when the families and individuals come down to collect them. Andrea was there to make sure the start was orderly by saying two pairs of shoes and 4 items of clothing can be taken, but there was plenty of baby clothes. This soon fell out of place as people started bagging more than 4 items of clothing. Yet, Antonietta, Greta and Hayley were on hand to replenish the clothing rail with a few more clothes.
It only took about 30 minutes before most of the items were gone, but we had this space setup until 14:00. Noticing there were less people and more of us, Sam sent Antonietta, George and Hayley off to lunch as Victoria and then Greta decided to head home earlier.
By the time, it came to 14:00, the trio were back from lunch to help pack up the room. We came in with nine boxes and left with three as most of the donations were taken. Andrea parked her van as we just brought out the boxes to conclude this successful donation distribution session.
Thank you all!