Asda Fight Hunger Create Change programme is helping behind the scenes at our food bank
Asda Pudsey store’s community champion Sandra Deakins welcomed the Trussell Trust’s Leeds & North West Foodbank volunteers into store this week to collect donations from customers and colleagues.
Sandra regularly volunteers with the food bank and sees first hand just how grateful people are for the donations.
Clifford Parker, pictured above with Sandra, used to be a volunteer driver for the food bank, collecting donations from Asda and elsewhere and delivering them to nine distribution centres across the region.
Now, thanks to a grant from the Asda Foundation, he’s just taken on a new role as the food bank’s warehouse and transport manager, overseeing the logistics of running an operation that has grown according to demand.
The Asda grant is also helping to pay for a volunteer support worker to spend time with some of the 480 volunteers – like Alice Hedge, who’s pictured below with Clifford.
Clifford, a former IT consultant for BT, has a background in people and project management, and is hoping to create a more efficient warehouse operation that reduces food waste.
He said: “We’ve got a lot of stock at the warehouse and actually we’re looking for bigger premises. I’m looking at how we store the food and distribute it in time – and also plan ahead. For example we get lots of donations at harvest festival and Christmas time but not as much in other times of the year.
“What has amazed me since volunteering with the food bank is just how generous people are. They’re essentially donating food to strangers – it’s great that people are willing to give and support people in their local communities.”