The delivery van had turned up early at the South Ealing Community Food Cupboard this week, so when GoodGymers Evelyn, Alan and Martin arrived, it initially looked like the regular volunteer team had done all of the work.

However, although the van had been unloaded and crates put in place around the room, there were still plenty of tasks left to help with and the team spent an enjoyable session performing quality control on boxes of tangerines, portioning grapes into bags and flattening cardboard boxes.

The team reckoned that this week's selection contained all of the fruit and veg needed for a Christmas Day feast...with the exception of sprouts, an omission that divided opinion.

It felt like a full harvest festival at the South Ealing Food Cupboard this week. Stef, Beata, Martin and Iram were on hand to help unload the van and stack the shelves for what turned out to be a bumper haul.

Crates arrived stacked with fresh produce, including cabbages genuinely bigger than our heads, heaps of carrots, plenty of green cabbages and mountains of potatoes. Mixed in with the veg were some more unusual arrivals: caramel popcorn, fruit-cake slices and bottles of fruity sparkling water - an eclectic combination that kept things interesting. A large delivery of loose green grapes needed portioning, so Stef, Beata, and Iram jumped straight into action, filling reused shopping bags to create generous, ready-to-hand-out servings.

Drizzly weather set the scene at the South Ealing Food Cupboard today, but the team were grateful that most of the delivery arrived on a single large pallet. This meant far less trekking back and forth in the rain with trolleys!

This week's haul was very punctual and consisted of crates of beautiful pre-squashed squashes, heaps of red and green cabbages, and turnips so enormous they were perfect for either weightlifting or clobbering someone like a cartoon cave-person. The fridge section brought an abundance of orange juice, mince and sausage rolls.

It was Stef’s first GoodGym session, and she jumped straight in, hauling heavy crates and flattening cardboard likea pro. She joined Martin and Iram, who helped sort through today’s produce and prep the cupboard for distribution. Everything was done and dusted well before 11:30am!