Life hasn't been easy recently for Mrs V. She was undergoing cancer treatment and lost her son this year. There were some bright moments for her too ️✨ The cancer was in remission and Mrs V's kitchen has just been refurbished! The latter meant that she had several big boxes to go through and put her food and dishes away. It looked like a daunting task to start - but not with GoodGym!

The mission started with giving the cupboards and drawers a sweep. Sevan took the top shelves, and Kash cleaned the ones under the sink. The height of the storage locations was critical to the success of the assignment. Mrs V was even shorter than Kash, so we had to make sure she could reach the most important items.

What did we find in the boxes? 📦

• Tinned fish and various beans - those went to a bottom cupboard
• Lots of pasta and rice bags accumulated in the last 10 years - some of them were sticky just like today's hot air - those had to go to the bin!
• Saucepans, mugs and plates - we put them on shelves easily accessible to Mrs V
• Caribbean spices, teas, oats and plenty of stock cubes
• Pint glasses and tumblers - they went to the top shelf - Mrs V decided she's not going to throw house parties anytime soon
• A Jamaican flag 🇯🇲
• An electricity top-up key that Mrs V was worried about being lost

Highlights 🌟

• Mrs V liked Kash's cheap slip-on trainers 👟 and couldn't believe they are not Skechers. She suggested that Kash should get another pair of those. 'That's already my second pair!', Kash replied to that.
• When Mrs V wanted to offer us some cash to buy ourselves a soft drink as a reward, Sevan explained to her she can donate to GoodGym using a bank transfer. He wrote the charity's bank details with tiny letters on a little piece of paper. 'You have very neat handwriting. And so small!', Mrs V said, 'You'd do great as a secret service in wartime...'

'But we don't need war, just love!', she added.

In 90 minutes we emptied three large boxes and two black bags, then sorted and put away all the kitchen items we found inside. We cleared the worktops and packed everything we would take with us on a bin trip. Mrs V seemed a bit disappointed we didn't stay for longer as she had more containers to unpack. That would be another adventure for Southwark GoodGymers!