After the busy lunch session today, I stayed on to help with the clean up. There was a huge amount of washing up - including some enormous pots -then the entire kitchen had to be left clean and tidy. Tables and chairs had to be taken down and stacked away but I left that to the younger and fitter volunteers! One of my tasks was to clean the cooker then fit all the large oven trays back in the oven - it was a bit like a three-dimensional jigsaw. I managed - with a bit of help!

I’m not sure why but today’s Friday Hub at Ealing Soup Kitchen seemed extra busy. Lots of regular faces and quite a few new ones. I was serving in the dining room for the lunch session - minced beef ragu with rice and vegetables or vegetable pasty with vegetables. Dessert was apple strudel and ice cream. It all went down a storm and this waitress was in need of a brief sit down afterwards!

I was one of the funnel managers at today’s Pitshanger Junior parkrun where 112 youngsters ran 2k on a glorious morning. And they all went through the funnel in order. Made my job very easy. It’s great to see how much they all enjoy it.

It was the perfect weather for soup today - followed by fish pie (with or without prawns) or vegetarian sausages with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Dessert was Swiss roll with custard. It was a very busy session with many clients coming back for seconds and takeaways. Fortunately chef Andrew had catered for this. It was definitely all hands on deck - or rather all hands in a very hot kitchen. But absolutely worth it to see how much the clients enjoyed their meal.

Today was chef Andrew’s specialty - fish pie. I was on kitchen duty and helped put it together this morning. Fortunately I was able to stay for a double shift and can confirm that it was absolutely delicious. The clients agreed and many came back for seconds and takeaways!

It is such a glorious morning today. I was able to combine two of my favourite things to do on a Sunday morning - litterpicking and marshalling at junior parkrun. There were 102 youngsters out on this cold but sunny morning in Pitshanger Park so lots of high fives and cheers. Not much litter in the park which is great but I managed to fill a bag on my way home - not so great!

I stayed on after coffee time to help out in the kitchen - and serve even more coffee and tea over lunch. Today’s fare was vegetable and lentil soup, pasta (either meat or vegetable sauce) and apple crumble with custard. It was all a huge hit with the clients.