A volunteer day never to be forgotten

Sharanvir Cubra, paralegal at Minster Law, tells us about her recent volunteering experience. 

If you haven’t heard of the FareShare Charity, they are a foodbank based in Barnsley. This April I was lucky enough to participate in a volunteer day with them. Surplus food from across the country is collected by volunteers and brought to the warehouse where it is then picked, packed, and distributed to over 10,500 frontline charities and community groups. In fact, knowing that in 2020 /2021 over 1.1million people were provided food and that FareShare supported 131.9 million meals, certainly made the volunteer day one to remember.

Following a warm introduction from the volunteers and staff on site, myself and a fellow Minster Law colleague were guided to the shelving area where a regular volunteer showed us how to organise and compact the shelving. Although this consisted of lifting heavy tinned food it was worth it knowing the good cause we were working towards.

In the afternoon all Minster Law volunteers were picking and packing the orders. Goods were divided into groups – Single occupants and families. We tried to give each recipient a variety of products so these could be made into tasty meals to last as long as possible. Knowing what was going into each package gave the personal touch and we really got a sense of community.

We were provided a list to ensure we filled as much as possible from them. We did come across some struggles and shortages e.g biscuits as it was coming up to Easter, although each volunteer tried their best for each individual package.

The entire experience is one I often relive with a sense of giving back to the community and helping people who are vulnerable. Some volunteers spoke about the impact COVID had on the charity and the ongoing struggles and life-threatening decisions many people are facing with limited or no disposable income. For anyone who wishes to donate and help this cause I have provided a link below.

It is an incredible opportunity to work for a company, such as Minster, who actively encourage all colleagues to undertake a charity day every year, and I look forward to participating in them in the future.

FareShare is always looking for new volunteers so if you feel you could help, we ask you to get involved by donating or volunteering here.