Thurrock Foodbank is a valuable service supporting those in Thurrock who are having difficulty in buying food for themselves and their families.
They have 10 centres across Thurrock and last year they provided 7,974 food parcels, 3,599 of which included children. Since 1st April 2024 they have supplied 1,745 food parcels, 802 of which were to families that included children.
Thurrock Foodbank have over 70 volunteers, who support with all their tasks including sorting the donations, making up the food parcels and delivering them to the distribution centres.
One of their volunteers was nominated for Thurrock Volunteer Centres first volunteer awards, hosted in Volunteers week. Derek won an award for ‘community volunteer’ and I think you will agree he is a worthy winner. Derek has been volunteering with Thurrock Foodbank for over twelve years and although he is now in his seventies he shows no signs of slowing down. Derek generally supports by driving the van around the borough to collect and deliver food, but is happy to support with all tasks that are required and has been known to change his day to support Thurrock Food bank. Derek states that he first began volunteering to give something back to the community and to keep active. Since then Derek has said that his skills in communication have improved, due to building good liaisons with businesses and the general public. On a personal level Derek has noticed that he is more flexible and patient as he never knows what may occur on a daily basis and has to be ready for everything. Derek feels that he has personally achieved his aim of giving back to the community, by supporting those who are in a vulnerable position and is pleased to say that he has met some wonderful people. Derek would recommend volunteering as a way of working alongside a lot of different people. Thank you Derek, for your service to the people of Thurrock.
To find out more about Thurrock Foodbank and how you can support their tasks please visit: https://thurrock.foodbank.org.uk/
If you would like to be in the Spotlight, either as an organisation or a volunteer please contact: volunteercentre@thurrockcvs.org
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