December 2024

Volunteers who have jointly given 39 years of their time to our Food Redistribution Centre have been celebrated with long service awards.

John, Sam, Chamayne, James and Jean have volunteered at the Preston-based warehouse for between five and nine years each.

Each working a couple of days a week, completing a range of operational and administrative roles, they are essential to our work getting food out to communities. Their contributions were recognised with a celebration at the Centre in November.

Volunteer Coordinator, Vivienne Ashurst, said: “Our volunteers are amazing people – individually and collectively. They know our members by name and deliver a first-class service to them. They also support and inspire one another, sharing their skills or experience to raise one another up. We are incredibly grateful for their efforts and commitment – we simply couldn’t do it without them”

Friends John and Sam (pictured above) have been volunteering at FareShare Lancashire & Cumbria since it first opened in 2015, having volunteered at FareShare Greater Manchester for six years before that. The pair met while serving in the Army in the 70s and each started volunteering after they retired.

John said: “I was in the military from 17 to 60 but 60 is young to retire so I started volunteering instead. It keeps your mind and body ticking over. We do two days a week working in the warehouse and my little step-o-meter tells me we do about 5,000 steps a day while we’re getting the food out. Volunteering allows us to give a bit back to the community and they’re nice people and a good team here.”

Jean (pictured above) has been volunteering with FareShare since she retired in 2019. In 2022 she was named Warehouse Assistant of the Year in FareShare’s annual volunteer awards.

She said of volunteering: “I had a food business of my own before I started volunteering and I did a lot with charities then. It’s interesting to work with food in a different way now. And it’s nice to meet the people taking the food and know that I am helping people.”

Partners Chamayne and James have also volunteered together for years. Chamayne joined FareShare’s team in 2016, after their children left home, on the suggestion of James, who was working for nearby Recycling Lives Ltd at the time.

Volunteering offered Chamayne a new focus and a way to improve her mental health. After her first year she was supported into paid work. She said at the time: “I became so much more confident through volunteering. I wanted to work but didn’t know where to start. Everyone at the Centre was so supportive and helped me to learn new skills.” Chamayne and James continue to volunteer part-time at the Centre.

The Centre currently has a team of 57 active volunteers supporting operations. In 2024, they have completed more than 3,500 shifts helping to get millions of meals out to around 130 groups across Lancashire and Cumbria.

Learn more about our volunteering opportunities here, or register your interest for volunteering by contacting: [email protected]