Helping at the Food Bank

It's a sad state of affairs that so many people in this country are currently relying on food banks.

We have a local Food Bank that operates out of the local church.  It's open on Tuesday and Thursday and recently they were appealing for volunteers so I decided to give it a go.

There are various roles and sessions volunteers can take part in - e.g. there are volunteers who make collections from local supermarkets that support the bank themselves but also have a trolley that shoppers can put donations in.  There are also volunteers who help in the evenings putting those collections/donations away and restocking the storage crates that are used during the sessions.  

They are also supported with food from local allotments and a nearby bakery.

I went initially for a visit and one of the gaps was for volunteers to help out at the Thursday daytime session which works well for me as Hubby is involved in a walking group on Thursdays so it made sense for us both to be tied up on the same day.

I'm really enjoying it.  The bank has been running for over 3 years now so it's well organised and people coming to use the bank have to have a referral.  People can't just walk in off the street although anyone that does would be signposted to people that could help them.  We've had several sessions recently where staff from the local Citizens Advice Bureau have attended and there is also a worker from Christians Against Poverty on hand to help people with debt advice.

Hot drinks and snacks are provided free to the people using the bank and some of the volunteers have been trained as listeners and their role is to engage with users.  The church also provides a "Warm Space" during the winter months.

I'm grateful to be part of this worthwhile venture but sad that it's needed.

Where to start?

Where to start indeed!

It feels like an age since I was last here.  I just don't seem to have been spending any time on my computer these last few weeks.  I've just spent a couple of hours catching up on blog posts, making sure I haven't missed any major events.  I've tried to leave a few comments here and there - apologies if you didn't get one.

I've been focussing on eating healthily and getting plenty of walking in and I just haven't felt motivated to blog.  But the hard work is paying off as I've now lost 9 pounds since I had the pre-diabetic blood test result and .... drumroll please - I had another blood test done recently and I was back in the normal range!

I'm still attending the support sessions offered though as it's been interesting and informative and the weigh-ins keep me motivated to keep up the healthy habits and hopefully lose some more weight.

Last week was a bit hectic as we had my elder son and his family here for the week.  Early wake ups as the grandsons are usually in bed and asleep by 7.30 at the latest but consequently awake around 6 am!

I still need to work on my bedtime routines as I'm not getting to bed very early so probably not getting enough sleep.  

They returned home to Nottingham on Sunday so since then I've been doing all the extra laundry generated by having guests - extra bedding, towels etc and getting the beds remade and some housework done.

Today we had my brother and his wife here for lunch which made a nice change.

Tomorrow I will be doing what's become a regular thing of volunteering at the local Food Bank.  I often tend to be in the kitchen making cups of tea and coffee, plus we provide snacks such as jacket potatoes or something on toast.  Nothing too complicated!

Now I'm off to bed and looking forward to reading something easier than the book I've just finished - A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks.  It took me 3 weeks to read - I didn't like the characters or the plot but I hate giving up on a book and it ticked a box on the summer reading challenge I opted to do.

Hopefully it won't be another 3 weeks before I blog again!

Friday's Fave Five - 7/7/23

How can it be Friday again?

Time to look back on the week and list the good things.  Susanne is the host for this and you can find her blog here.  These are the things I'm thankful for this week:

1)  Family time last Sunday - we had both our daughter and our younger son here with their families.  A bit hectic but the cousins do love to get together.  A challenge preparing a roast dinner while keeping the kids out of the kitchen lol.

2) 1:1 time with Rory on Monday - he school was closed for staff training so he came here.  He's really good at amusing himself but we also played a lot of games including Kerplunk and Junior Monopoly.

3)  We had some much needed rain but also quite a bit of sunshine this week.  Today has been really warm again but I've managed to get out every day for a walk, even if just a short one.

4)  A trip to nearby Epping - we got the bus and then the train and then took a slow walk up and down the High Road, exploring the various charity shops.  I found a "Guess Who" game which is another one I'm sure the grandkids will enjoy playing.

5)  Keeping up my motivation for improving my health.  As mentioned I've been out for a walk everyday and I'm still keeping up my exercises for my back and hips.  The pain is definitely less but still not gone completely.  I'm also drinking more water and trying to keep to healthy meals.  Not 100% - for example we should have had a HelloFresh delivery on Tuesday by 7pm.  By the time it arrived at 9.30 pm we'd opted for a Chinese takeaway!  But I have kept away from the chocolate and biscuits and I've also eaten more fruit.

Bonus - it was Knit and Natter on Wednesday evening - I'd missed the last two so it was good to catch up with everyone.  

We have a fairly quiet weekend ahead although we are babysitting Nathan and Ella tomorrow evening.  Hopefully we'll get them to bed but at least it's Saturday so if they stay up late there's no rush to get up the next day!

Have a good weekend all.

Friday's Fave Five (on Saturday!) 30/6/23

Susanne keeps us on our toes reminding us to look back each week and think about the good things in our lives.  You can find her blog here.

Here are mine for this week:

1)  Another birthday!  Always good to make it through another year, especially as I get older.  It was a very quiet day - I had my first Diabetic Prevention session on the day (Monday) so we didn't make any plans to eat out etc.  The session was from 4-6pm and it took about 45 minutes to get there on public transport so a 3 1/2 hour chunk out of my day.

But hopefully it will be worth it.  I've already lost a few pounds and I'm definitely eating better.  I'm also trying to be more active.

2)  The pain in my hips and back is definitely easier.  I'm still doing exercises everyday as prescribed by the physio.  Hopefully some weight loss will help with that as well.

3)  Lunch with a friend on Wednesday.  This was a former work colleague of mine who unfortunately was widowed early last year.  She wanted some help with probate paperwork so I was happy to do that and she insisted on providing lunch which was lovely.  We also got to do a good catch up on what our families are up to etc.

4)  Lovely flowers from my daughter and her family:

Plus a new container for future use!

5)  Cooler weather.  The heat a couple of weeks ago was really hard to cope with but this week has been much cooler.  Not as much sunshine though but at least I've not been panicking about watering the plants every day.  Although I have watered the tomato plants every day and most of them have flowers on them so hopefully we'll get some home grown tomatoes!

Have a good weekend all.  Happy 4th July to all my American friends.  We have my younger son and my daughter here for dinner tomorrow with their families.  Love getting them together.