This is a great task and definitely replaces the need to go to the gym - I arrived at 9am and was put straight to work unloading vans with crates of food donations! Then I was helping with doubling up very flimsy bags before filling them up with food items.

Nadi and Hristo arrived later and were swiftly put to the tasks that they quickly got done - this included preparing food packages, carrying bags out for delivery, clearing up boxes and so on.

We got everything done by 11.30am and were on our way to get on with Xmas eve!

Watch out for more sessions at this great foodbank - so many families and individuals will have a meal over holidays because of the work thus foodbank does!

Seven Goodgymers met at the Age UK offices in Chingford, ready to do battle with weeds on an overgrown patch of land behind the building. Emma, who works for the charity, gave us our instructions and weapons (mainly shears and gloves), and explained that they want to turn the wasteland into a garden which service users can enjoy.

The team set to it, chopping down the cow parsley, nettles and other assorted nasties, and collecting them in a compost bin at the back of the site. It was hot work, but after an hour the site had been transformed from an allergy inducing wilderness to a well-groomed plot. We felt we'd definitely earned the juice and crisps provided (best flavours were debated).

Apart from a couple of stings, insect bites and pollen-related sniffles, the team left triumphant, having tamed the fearsome flora, and begun the process of creating a space for older people to enjoy.

As Clara ran down to the task yesterday she smugly thought to herself 'Wow, I've been so organised about this evening and I'm really on time today' and then this was immediately followed by the realisation that she had forgotten the only thing she needed to remember - the allotment key. After a very frantic sprint home powered by some very loud grime music she made it a mere 8 minutes late... sorry guys.

Charlotte, Hristo and Nadi were ready and waiting and we joined Ruby, a vision in pink, soon after to head to the allotments. Ruby figured out how to work the key and we were soon inside ready to get going.

Our task this evening was to plant cabbages and luckily Julia, from the Single Homelessness Project, had sent really detailed instructions. We got the tape measure out and Charlotte, Hristo and Nadi set to planting the cabbages (exactly 45 cm apart), watering them and then protecting them with a plastic cloche. Ruby did a great job mulching the strawberry beds and we had a go at weeding the other beds.

It’s great to see how much progress has been made at the allotment since our recent task planting the apple trees. Hopefully we will be back before too long!