As Tony and Pauline hot-footed it from their first Community Mission of the day, two very keen GoodGym runners were already busying themselves at the Waterloo Kitchen Thursday Community Meal.

Sally is now a dab hand at setting up and clearing away tables and chairs for the hundreds of diners who pass through the centre every week. Meanwhile, Carol dons her Marigolds, to ensure that clean dishes are always available.

With a good number of volunteers on the meal tasks, Tony and I found ourselves experiencing a bit of deja vu...as we were asked to make a start on sorting out yet more food bank donations.

The generosity of members of the public, often those in need themselves, is both overwhelming and humbling.

Two hours and five trays of Christmas puddings later, we began to see some sort of order. Yet again, the vital task of checking dates and organising food according to shelf life.

Sadly, this is a need that doesn't seem to be going away. Organisations such as Waterloo Kitchen and food banks are always in need of extra help.