Sophie's experience with FareShare shows what a difference volunteering can make
We're holding volunteer drives in our stores as part of the Asda Fight Hunger Create Change programme. Sophie Robinson writes about her experience helping at FareShare's Barnsley depot...
It was a really rewarding experience when I joined 11 of my colleagues from the pricing and promotions team at head office in Leeds to join volunteers at the FareShare Barnsley depot.
On arrival we were briefed by some of the volunteers, who gave us an introduction into the work of FareShare, and how the partnership with Asda is already starting to help individuals in the Barnsley community.
They gave us a few example case studies of the many people that FareShare has helped, from individuals to whole families.
We then moved on as a team to the warehouse, where all the donations are stored and sorted before they're distributed to the people who need them.
It was surprising to see the sheer amount of food in the warehouse, showing what a big operation supporting food charities is. I've never seen so much tinned food.
We were then involved in helping the volunteers pack up the groceries into boxes to be taken to different food charities.
The fact we had been given some context about FareShare depots, and case studies about who they help out, made our work on the day a lot more meaningful. You can see some of the volunteers in this video, where they explain why they're inspired to share their time:
We all felt quite tired afterwards. Loading up the food crates was quite physical, hard work and it’s a credit to all the volunteers that do this day in day out to help people.
It was a really friendly atmosphere, really positive, and we all worked as a team and had a great day. I think the volunteers were very grateful for an extra 12 bodies too.
The day left a real impression on all of us. It made us think about how much difference just a couple of hours of volunteering a week can make to other people’s lives.