Each Monday morning, GoodGym lends a hand at the South Ealing Food Cupboard, helping the team of volunteers get surplus food sorted and ready to support the local community. This week, Martin and Iram were treated to a bumper haul and a cracking challenge.

Fresh from the farm came bunches of muddy spring onions, heaps of carrots and courgettes, juicy watermelons, herbs, lettuce, and strawberries - a proper summer spread. But the real surprise came in the form of eggs. So many eggs. We estimated around 750 in total, the first time in months the Food Cupboard had received any eggs.

The catch? Not a single one came pre-packaged. So we got eggstra creative. With only a handful of cartons available, we portioned them into dozens, half dozens, or packs of four using anything we could find, including repurposed nectarine punnets and the original egg packaging which we carefully cut down to size. It was part jigsaw, part balancing act, and fully a test of our steady hands. There may have been a few casualties along the way!

It was a cracking session (pun intended) and a great example of teamwork, resourcefulness, and keeping good food out of the bin and into the hands of those who need it most.

Each Monday morning, GoodGym helps the South Ealing Food Cupboard volunteers prepare to give away food to the community. Supermarkets and other organisations donate surplus items to prevent waste. A lot of heavy lifting and speedy organisation is needed to get a van-load of food ready to share!

This morning’s haul was a slightly odd selection: white chocolate Easter bunnies, jelly play kits, and a mountain of Cornish pasties. Rebecca and Iram channelled their inner Tetris masters to squeeze the pasties into every available fridge space. Honestly, there were probably more pasties in the room than in the whole of Cornwall! Meanwhile, Jamie did a fabulous job flattening the humongous pile of cardboard, and Martin took on the sun-soaked task of unloading crates from the van and hauling them over to the church.

It was Rebecca’s first GoodGym session and Jamie’s second — lovely to welcome them both! They took to it like ducks to water!

There were 3 reasons for celebration at South Ealing Food Cupboard this morning:

1. Josh came to his first GoodGym task. Welcome! 🥳👋
2. Martin achieved his 50th good deed, earning his black t-shirt
3. A Tesco driver brought an extra delivery to Food Cupboard

Wait... what?! In addition to the usual DHL food drop, the Tesco driver came to the church garden rather than Church Gardens, a nearby street. The volunteers started to unload birthday cake and fruit before realising that this was not the delivery they were expecting.

Thankfully, there was plenty of food in the actual Food Cupboard's deliveries too, which Martin, Josh and Sevan helped to move into the church. These included some fancy meats like steak, duck and venison as well as exotic mangoes and papayas. The usuals were there too, with plenty of ready meals stacked into the fridges by Josh and Sevan and the ever present banana crates, which were very green this week.

After a quick costume change into his GoodGym t-shirt, Martin was ready for his big moment and put on the shiny 50 good deeds sash to be the star of today's photos 🌟. Well done Martin! You've shown great dedication to South Ealing Food Cupboard, helping new GoodGymers to feel welcome at this task and be able to jump right in and have a big impact. 👏