The appeal was simple: spare a few hours on the Tuesday and Wednesday of Christmas week, help in the kitchen, and get hot food to people in the greatest need.
I joined community volunteers, colleagues and local businesses to provide free meals that week for elderly, lonely and homeless people in Waterloo, Vauxhall and the wider Lambeth area, and in West Bromwich. Both places are close to me, and the point was to give something back.
That year had already brought coronavirus, recession and cold weather, and nobody knew what the next year would do to health, family or household bills. A few hours, some money and some produce, turned into hot meals and food-bank parcels.
Residents and businesses signed up alongside Lord Charlie Falconer, Lord Michael Cashman, Mary Foy MP and others. Businesses in south London and the West Midlands cooked. Volunteers took food to people living in poverty, and rough sleepers could collect it from local businesses. The ingredients were donated or bought at cost. The aim was more than 2,000 hot meals.