It was an early start at the St Matthews church in Bethnal Green which was for the last year the welcoming home of the Bethnal Green food bank. It's been a bustling year for the food bank but they were on the move to new premises near Victoria Park, and GoodGym were on hand to help with loading vans full of produce for the big moving day.

We gathered at 8.30 with Emma and Susie especially prompt and we were shortly joined by Hannah and Danielle. Everything was nicely laid out for us and we began by packing up the shelving and then various crates of tins, pasta/rice and toiletries. Before long the first van was dispatched to drop off the initial load at the destination.

In the hiatus before the van returned we set about optimising the layout to ensure we were as efficient as possible for the next loading up, but once that was done we had an opportunity to chat and heard from Jemima and Heather all about the food bank. They explained how it was serving roughly 800 people per week, and how they are very open in that they don't need a referral so anyone can show up and benefit from free essentials so they are providing a most invaluable service.

As we were chatting Becky showed up having ran/swum there ready for a power hour of hard working. Then shortly before the van returned Aziz also arrived and we were back into action again loading it up in double quick time.

I had to leave after 90 minutes but I trust the team managed to ultimately pack up what remained into subsequent van trips ready to be re-housed in the new premises at Raine's School.

Some really great work done by the team, in a very efficient, safe and friendly manner!