It’s Volunteers Week from 3-9 June and we couldn’t do what we do without our amazing team of volunteers. This week, we’re highlighting some of our volunteer roles to showcase the work they do:
Meet Claire, one of our Warehouse Volunteers
“It’s really hectic, but it’s great! I love the camaraderie here!” – Claire, Warehouse Volunteer
Claire joined us in September 2020 as a warehouse volunteer. She says she heard about FareShare Greater Manchester at the right time; “I saw something in the papers about FareShare when I was just about to retire. I thought, ‘I need to do something with all this new free time’. This looked good and I thought that I should explore it.”
On an average day in the warehouse Claire helps prepare the food orders ready for the delivery drivers to do their rounds. There’s never a dull moment Claire tells us, “It’s hectic – I usually get in early and it’s really hectic but it’s great! I love the camaraderie in here!”
Our warehouse volunteers are at the heart of what we do. Our team is responsible for sorting, storing and recording the food we get delivered to our warehouse. They also assemble food orders for our community food members across Greater Manchester. Every day is different and our volunteers are part of a fun, welcoming team. There’s something for people of all abilities!
We couldn’t do what we do without our volunteers
The work our volunteers contribute to support what FareShare Greater Manchester does is invaluable to us. There are more charities and community groups reaching out to us and asking for help every week. Claire says she knows how important her volunteering role is, “We are more than aware of food poverty these days and the need for food banks unfortunately. Somebody needs to be able to supply all those food banks and we do what we can to help”.
Since signing up as a volunteer with us, Claire’s been spreading the word and encouraging others to give it a go. “Quite a few friends have joined FareShare since I started, one in FareShare Plus and some on the floor here as well. It’s very rewarding. It’s hard work, but it’s very rewarding and I really enjoy it because we are all similarly minded. It’s good fun!”
If hearing Claire’s story has got you thinking about volunteering, please get in touch!
