Volunteers are at the heart of all the work carried out at Bassetlaw Food Bank. Without them, they wouldn’t be able to support the community in the way that they do.
When it comes to volunteering it needs to fit around your lifestyle, and any time that is volunteered is appreciated. This could range from a couple of hours on a Wednesday afternoon to six hours over the course of two or three days. There are different roles available for anyone wanting to get involved.
Do you see yourself as a mover? If you like keeping busy, warehouse volunteering could be the right role for you. Involving activities such as date-checking and storing donations, picking and packing food parcels, keeping the warehouse clean and tidy, as well as meeting other volunteers. You’ll leave the food bank feeling fulfilled, knowing that your work is helping feed people in the community.
Perhaps you’re business-minded and love the thrill of sales. If that’s the case, you may be more suited to our retail operation. The Food Bank runs online shops via eBay and Vinted and has a market stall in Retford town centre on Fridays. Activities include uploading items to eBay and Vinted with accurate descriptions, tagging items within the numbering system, packing and posting orders, setting up the market stall, and interacting with the public.
Maybe you have a couple of hours free in an afternoon, and a vehicle, and would prefer to do a few food parcel deliveries. Confidential and caring are two words to describe volunteers in this role as they interact with service users in person. They deliver across the whole of Bassetlaw, but you can choose your preferred area. So, whether that’s within your village or across the constituency, whatever suits you suits the Food Bank.
There’s also a new volunteer role to help the recently established Bassetlaw Community Shop! The shop aims to support Bassetlaw’s rural community in times of hardship and create better access to affordable food. This may be the role for you if you’re sociable and live rurally. You can find information on the locations and times at www.bassetlawfoodbank.org.
If this sounds interesting and you’d like discuss the roles further, please contact admin@bassetlawfoodbank.org.