I was running slightly late (standard!) as my work meeting over ran so when I got there veteran food bank task volunteer Michael was already stuck into packing a car with food parcels. I quickly joined in and got up to speed with what we were doing.

This week we had many donated advent calendars to include with the food parcels. I was a little worried in case I miscounted, and a child was missed! Getting in the Christmas spirt Nancy from the food bank kept adding in ‘and a partridge in a pear tree’ to the end of our lists as we packed the cars ‘15 food parcels, 3 bags of toiletries, 21 advent calendars, 4 toiletries, 2 dog food, 1 cat food and a partridge in a pear tree’.

Most of the drivers were scheduled to arrive in the first hour, so it was none stop at the beginning. But we managed to catch our breath and get the last few ready in advance of them arriving. We also had a lovely conversation whilst waiting for the last drives about the joy of campervans and the perils of tents in the wind.

With all parcels sent out we used the remaining time to pack some food bags with cupboard staples ready for next week. As it approached 1pm I rushed back to work leaving Michael to finish up packing the last few bags - what dedication.

Great way to spend a long lunch!