ANOTHER BUSY MORNING AT THE COMMUNITY FRIDGE

I was really pleased when I saw the sun was shining this morning when I woke up, because that means that our lovely customers at the Community Fridge wouldn’t have to queue in the pouring rain, as they have done for a few weeks now.

We were very busy this morning with 188 coming through the door - apparently 220 came on Monday - and the café was busier than usual too today.  I was flitting between chatting to the customers and working in the kitchen, and then sadly, we had an incident with one of the coffee machines, so it was all hands to the pump to get things cleared up.  H, one of our younger volunteers, is always very helpful and today she was brilliant, mopping the floor and lifting some of the heavy boxes that I wasn’t able to lift.  It is a joy to have her there and she and I have some good chats together.

You can see Meg in all her glory with a wonderful "Coat of Many Colours and Countries" that shows all the countries of the world - we had to point out Jamaica to her, once she put it on, because she wanted to show that part of the world off to one of her special customers who comes from there.  

We had lots of vegetables and fruit today, all in very good condition, thanks to many local supermarkets.  By the end of the shift, most of them had been taken, and it is always good to see empty baskets.  

You might wonder what the shot on the right is all about - it’s just a quick one of the dishwasher - because it’s not just about chatting but about loading and unloading the dishwasher, keeping all the surfaces clean and tidy and making sure that we keep up the standards.

We also had lots of baked goodies today and these all went quickly - mainly because they aren’t the sort of things that people can afford to buy because really, they are luxuries - so it is good to see the pleasure on their faces when they see things like cookies, cakes and scones.

I did ask one of our Polish customers, what the packets were at the bottom left and he told me they were vanilla sauce - something like custard, I guess.  

An update on Mr. HCB - he had a call from the surgery this morning - the Nurse said she had been worried about his wound last night and felt it needed to be swabbed and sent off to the lab to find out if there is any infection.  She had showed the photograph she had taken yesterday to a GP and he had agreed, so Mr. HCB took me to the Community Fridge this morning and then went back to the surgery.  He was then told that a prescription for a course of antibiotics would be sent to our pharmacy, so he was able to collect that and hopefully, that will help, so we are praying it heals quickly and well.

Thank you to all of you who wished him well yesterday - he was very touched at the lovely comments.  M xx