Cyrenians Volunteering Opportunity

Description

A food bank in North Edinburgh has received volunteering support from outsourced business services company NSL thanks to ESES Communities.

FareShare Central & South East Scotland is run by Cyrenians Good Food Programme, a social enterprise with a mission to bring dignified access to quality food for those who need it most. 

The team redistributes food from retailers that otherwise would have been sent to landfill to a wide range of  organisations in the Central & South East Scotland area, who provide food and help support those who need it most.

Having posted a request for volunteers through the ESES Communities portal, NSL got in touch to offer the time of two members of staff for the day - Bruce and Leanne.

Bruce said: "Just spending the day here has given us both a real eye-opener into the challenges that some families are facing on our own doorstep with food and other essentials. You don't realise the scale of the challenge that Fareshare, Cyrenians and the wider network of food banks are facing at the moment"

Echoing this, Leanne said: "It's really encouraging to see how much work Fareshare and Cyrenians are doing and I am really happy to play a small part in helping - but it really drives home to you how many people and families are in need."

Liston Walker, Donor Care Manager at Cyrenians said "With 1 in 5 said to be skipping meals to pay the bills, we are experieincing unprecedented demand - increasing our need for food and other essentials, as well as volunteers to help pick, pack and distribute."

"Using the ESES Communities portal has been a really useful tool to help us find volunteers at short notice, and we look forward to continuing to engage with the portal to build links with businesses like NSL - who have so kindly offered the time of their staff".

NSL previously supported another cause through ESES Communities, providing Mental Health First Aid training to the team at Project Scotland, who support a network of young volunteers.

To find out more about how your organisation can volunteer with Cyrenains, click here.