This morning we met the Mayor who was there for the Korean's harvest haul, then got a bit carried away chopping down brambles.

This evening it was all about prioritisation with a small but eager team. Having run, walked and cycled our way to the pantry we were treated with cool drinks which went down a treat.

We focussed on the key tasks of cleaning the fridges which Claire and Marcus took on, cleaning the sinks which Farzeen made sparkle and cleaning the fruit and veg area which Susan spruced up. This was followed by cleaning the ever sugary and floury baking shelves and hoovering and mopping.

Having completed all our tasks in record time we enjoyed viewing and learning about the art created by some of the clients as part of a project undertaken by the Pantry.

As the students had left town for the Summer it was a good opportunity to give the Kingsgate Church food bank a Summer clean.

Claire and Farzeen started working on the fridges and freezers cleaning away the pesky crumbs and washing all the shelves and drawers.

Meanwhile upstairs the team of Luke, Tom, Jenny, Anna and Enara started to sort the canned fruit, meatballs, soup and some very strange looking drinks to identify those which had expired or were close to expiry. Anything close to expiry was put at the top of the pile and everything that had expired was separated out.

One of the freezers needed a little help defrosting for its clean so Anna joined Farzeen with some hot water to give it a helping hand whilst Tom tackled the last fridge.

Everything cleaned and sorted some brave Goodgymers decided to try the mystery drinks that would apparently provide calmness. Some slightly odd expressions followed the tasting - very sweet flavoured with a combination of berries was the verdict. Let’s hope they provided a sense of calm and serenity.

For those that didn’t fancy the mystery drinks there was an assortment of soup, tinned fruit and shepherds pies to take home that were close to expiry and prevent unnecessary food waste.

A big welcome to our newcomers Jenny and Enara!