Volunteers are the lifeblood of Edinburgh Food Project. Last year our amazing team of over 200 volunteer workers put in a total of 11,950 hours of unpaid work driving vans, making up food boxes and manning foodbanks, all to ensure emergency food gets to the people who need it.
This Volunteer’s Week (June 2-8) we are celebrating the fantastic effort they make day in, day out and taking a closer look at what it’s like to be a volunteer at the Edinburgh Food Project.
Judy Cook has been volunteering with us since September 2015. Judy, 66, is one of the dedicated team of volunteers who look after the warehouse, sorting donated food into parcels ready to be distributed to foodbanks. Not only that, she has also recently decided to take on a sponsored abseil challenge to raise money for Edinburgh Food Project, which will see Judy abseil a dizzying 165ft from the Forth Bridge to the beach at South Queensferry. She kindly agreed to share her experience of volunteering with the charity for nearly a decade and explain what motivated her to brave the bridge.
Has your role changed at all from when you started to now? “I’ve spent all that time in the warehouse, but doing a lot of different roles there. I’ve seen a lot of change since I’ve been here, when I first started everything was run by volunteers.
“Just the growth and the whole service that we provide now, it’s more than food. I think it’s fabulous that it’s not just food we provide, we provide a lot of other support as well.”
Have you made friends in the course of doing this, and have you found it personally rewarding? “Yes, absolutely. And yes it is, it’s satisfying – you see the results of your labour if you’re packing boxes you see the line of boxes all at the end of the day or if you’re dating you see all the dated food, so it is satisfying to see the results.”
It is also satisfying to know that you’re doing a bit to help as well? “Oh absolutely, that’s why you volunteer – to contribute to society and to help. And it’s great being part of a team as well.”
“In a first world country there should not be a need for a foodbank.”
What would you say to someone who was thinking about volunteering here? “I’d say go for it. It’s great to be part of something and everyone is lovely.”
You’ve just decided to do an abseil for the foodbanks! That was very brave of you. “Yes! I have decided to take on the abseil challenge. I think the impetus for that was becoming a state pensioner and just feeling a zest for adventure – and I wanted to go for it! And of course I wanted to raise a lot of money for the foodbank.”
Thank you to Judy for taking the time to share her experience of volunteering with Edinburgh Food Project and we wish her all the best on her abseil in September. If you would like to sponsor her, please visit her JustGiving page.