I’m Jane and I’m one of the phoneline volunteers. I started volunteering at S6 Foodbank in November 2020 as my neighbour was saying how the foodbank needed more volunteers as the demand during covid for people needing support was rising so quickly.
I chose to help with the phonelines as I can be anywhere as long as I have my phone, computer, access to the internet and I’m in a place where I can keep the details of the beneficiaries confidential when I speak to them.
The conversations on the phonelines are really varied. Beneficiaries talk about the situation they are in, sometimes they are sad, but I often have really interesting and heart-warming conversations. Whilst beneficiaries are in food crisis you often talk to the same people regularly thereby having the opportunity to build up a professional relationship with them.
The sessions are 3 hours long, so not much time to give in a week at all! I’m not particularly into IT but the spreadsheet and systems used are really simple.
Lots of research suggests that volunteering is rewarding and I would totally agree with that. I often feel I’m making a small difference to people as most foodbank users are going through really difficult and often frustrating times, so are so very grateful to have access to food.
Since I’ve been volunteering at S6, I’ve been given lots of opportunities to learn more about how other areas of the foodbank work, have had training, and there are opportunities to meet up with other volunteers. Due to some of the beneficiaries’ situations occasionally people can be a bit curt. If someone is difficult to talk to there are systems in place to make sure you are supported. There is also a debrief after each phoneline session to talk through any worries or difficulties or just have a good catch-up.
I can totally recommend Foodbank volunteering; it’s a few hours of the week and you can make such a big difference to people.