Why Carol volunteers

During Volunteers’ Week we asked some of our own volunteers a bit about themselves and why they like to help at our food bank.  Carol tells us her story:

Q. For those who don’t know the Foodbank, could you say a little about what volunteering in the warehouse involves?
A. I go in once a week. We receive deliveries and donations that arrive from supermarkets and local organisations and we weigh them in: everything is weighed in and weighed out again. Once they’re weighed in, we put things away on the shelves. We check the dates because everything has to be in date. If it’s out of date, we give it to the Witney Fridge. Meanwhile, we’re also making up food parcels for families. We have a printed list we go by. So we may be doing a parcel for a one-person household, or a two-person household, or for a family of three or four. We fili bags with everything that’s on the list and weigh them so they’re ready either to be delivered or picked up.

Q. What did you do before?
A. Until nine years ago, I worked for the NHS in an admin role. That was a stressful job and I retired from the NHS when I turned 60. I then got myself a part-time job at Blenheim Palace. I worked there until COVID. After coming back from several times being furloughed I decided to fully retire then.

Q. What made you decide to begin volunteering?
A. I always knew that when I retired, I would like to volunteer for something. Most of my working life, I have been in a public-facing role and I knew that I didn’t want to do that anymore. I’ve always felt that the Foodbank is a crucial lifeline for lots of people and taken an interest in how the Foodbank works. There are different types of food banks, obviously. And I thought, ‘Yes, I can do this.’ So I applied. And so far—touch wood, as long as they’re happy with me!—I’ve been there three years and absolutely know I made the right choice. I really enjoy it.

Q. Are you on a regular shift?
A. Yes, I go once a week on a Monday. I am also available if they are ever short — I don’t mind covering other shifts.

Q. How many hours is it?
A. We all do two hours. The shifts start at 10 in the morning and I start at 11. They have two people working from 10-12, two people working 11-1 and two people working from 12-2, when the Foodbank closes.

Q. What have you enjoyed most about your time volunteering?
A. I really enjoy the fact that I am doing something to help, albeit very small in the larger scheme of things. The people are really nice and I’ve met some who are now friends. Everybody is just so helpful and considerate. There’s no aggro at all and we all work well as a team. It’s just a nice place to be for two hours.

Q. What benefits have you experienced personally from volunteering at the Foodbank?
A. Just the satisfaction, I suppose, that I can do a tiny bit to help. And just to go out every Monday and be with nice people. We work hard, chat while we’re doing it, and then I come home again. I like that.

Q. Do you have any stories you could share about your time volunteering?
A. People donate some funny things. You can tell when somebody’s having a clear out or you get hotel soaps and half open packets of something that they don’t like. So we have a bit of a giggle about that, but nothing extraordinary has happened while I’m there.
However it does make you realise how much people need the help. One day we were making up a parcel for a single man. We were told he’d been homeless for 18 months, but had now got somewhere to live. And you just think, ‘Thank goodness for that.’ It was nice to be able to help.

Q. Would you recommend volunteering to others?
A. Definitely, yes.

Q. What would you say to anyone who’s thinking about volunteering at the Foodbank?
A. If it ticks a lot of boxes for you personally — you go out and meet new people, you have a chat, you’re doing something to help — then there’s no reason not to. Some food bank volunteers do the pick up from the supermarkets and deliveries to clients and others help pack bags for clients in the warehouse.
Another thing to mention is that when you volunteer, if you can’t make it for some reason, nobody gives you a hard time and there is usually someone who can cover your shift.

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