Can you share a bit about yourself? What is your background?
I am an architect working in the construction industry designing buildings like schools, houses, visitor centres. I turned 60 last year and have recently semi-retired.
How long have you been volunteering at FareShare and why did you decide to start?
Back at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, as an architect, I saw all my building contracts come to a standstill and all my work disappeared overnight.
As I was self-employed, I had very little money coming in. My three boys, who are in their late teens and early twenties, suddenly all came home hungry from university and started to eat us out of the house. During that time, my youngest son was the only one who was earning any money working at the local Coop. I soon realised feeding my family was going to be a major financial problem. My wife, who was a student at the time, was training to be an accountant after having a change of career.
Luckily, I had some savings and help from my dad, otherwise I would have been in real trouble. A lot of people are not so lucky, and I realised financially there must be a lot of other people out there who were in far worst difficulties than me, so I started looking to see how I could volunteer for a food bank.
Someone mentioned FareShare to me, and I can drive a van, so I just wanted to give something back and help in any way I could. I volunteer one day a week every Thursday and deliver food around Luton, Milton Keynes and St Albans.
A year later, my work returned to normal, but I decided I wanted to carry on doing my bit. Volunteering at FareShare having seen first-hand people going hungry, plus I feel passionately about tackling food waste. I also really enjoyed my work there.
Please share more about your incredible fundraiser for FareShare for which you won the fundraising volunteer of the year award.
I had a full left hip replacement operation back in June last year. Before then I had done a bit of cycling and was generally quite fit. After the operation I wanted to do something to get me back in shape, so a friend of mine mentioned this bike race in South Africa which at the time was a year away, so I thought I had plenty of time to train and get ready for it. It involved a six-day mountain bike race off the side of Spion Kop mountain in the Drakensberg mountains, all off road and down a steep rocky single track. It is a dusty, rocky, technical, and difficult descent. One tiny lapse of concentration and you would hit the dirt, a rock, a tree or worse. It was something I hadn’t done before and I thought it would be quite the challenge as it was going to be around 600km.
Before I realised I may have bitten off more than I could chew, and with one prosthetic hip, I signed up for it and started training in November of last year. Having just turned 60 I would be one of the oldest attempting this ride.
It was out of my comfort zone, but it was something I wanted to do. I didn’t have a mountain bike, so ended up buying one. We haven’t got mountains in Britain similar to that of South Africa, so I had to do most of my training in Oxfordshire which is the complete opposite and dead flat. We ended up having to go to Dartmoor and doing the rest of the training there.
There were a few setbacks along the way – my mountain bike was stolen three weeks before the race, the crankset on my bike sheared off a week later and then I was diagnosed with arthritis of the right hip and right knee.
With one other friend, we decided we wanted to raise money for FareShare as it was one of my favourite charities. I realised when I started my Just Giving page that I had hit a nerve with a lot of people, as they all gave incredibly generously. I started with a target of £1000, and when my first donation was for £250, I thought blimey, I need to up this, so I increased it to £5000. We ended up raising £5440, plus £995 in gift aid.
The cause was close to the bone for a lot of people who donated. My story about getting back on the bike after my operation was one thing, but I think the effects of the cost of living crisis and the fact that so many people were in a difficult situation was really shocking to many.
What was your most memorable or favourite part of the journey?
On day 5, we had been climbing up this Kopje, which is a large rock outcrop, and coming off the back of it was this amazing descent down this rock, which had spectacular views. It was also a pretty terrifying descent down this rocky face towards a huge lake called the Sterkfontein Dam. It was one of those ‘ya hoo’ moments when you’re flying down, but if you came off your bike, you would be in serious trouble. It was out of my comfort zone, but it was fantastic.
The best thing about the whole race wasn’t competing, but the actual people there were fantastic, there was this amazing camaraderie. In total there were 216 riders with three from the UK, 17 international riders and the rest were from South Africa.
We also stayed in these camps that were set up in a community school playing field, so each night a local state school had been paid by the race committee to set up all the tents and to provide food and drinks to riders. For the schools as this was their big fundraiser of the year and produced the most money for them, they ended up competing to see who could provide the best service. The people were so lovely, and the food just got better. All the kids would also come out and take your bikes at the end of each day to pressure wash them to a shiny new state and then store them away. It was an amazing experience.
The scenery was incredible. It was very cold at night, often frosty in the mornings when you set off, but got up to about 25 degrees during the day. I remember one morning we all set off together and there were these herds of springboks, kudus and antelopes going past us, it was unbelievable, so different from anything here. I had never been to South Africa before so that was amazing.
What was the most difficult?
The days were long between 90-120km which doesn’t sound much for a road cyclist, but add in undulating terrain, big climbs up single tracks, strong dry head winds on a heavy mountain bike and you can probably double the distance for road biking.
You were self-guiding on an unmarked route and there was no back up. If you had a mechanical problem, you were pretty much on your own. You were having to navigate yourself, so if you went the wrong way, you would end up doing 20km more than you needed to which added to the day.
One particular day, we were 70 miles off road which doesn’t sound very much but you can probably double that for road biking, it was probably equivalent to about 140 miles on a road. It was very windy and it got very hot. At one point we had to climb up this big escarpment. Lots of people were having to get off their bikes. By the time I had got to the top, I had very little energy. There weren’t many people around so I was cycling on my own into a head wind and it was dusty. That day was pretty tough to deal with.
It was also quite gruelling on the body. With a prosthetic hip, it was quite interesting hammering down these rocky tracks which by the end of the day, kinda hurt. The best people there were the physios. I had booked in a physio session every night just to re-build my body. They put me back on track each night otherwise I don’t think I would have managed it.
What is it like meeting the charities as one of the faces of FareShare?
I love it. Most of the people are very friendly and I get to meet some incredible people working in schools, care homes, homeless shelters, hostels, hospices and food larders. Most of them are also volunteers themselves.
I find that at the end of my Thursday, I have a big beaming smile on my face because everyone really appreciates those deliveries, where in the construction industry, you get a lot of flak and disgruntled people. Thursdays are probably my favourite day of the week. I just really enjoy what I do, and I get a lot out of it.
On the other hand, it can also be quite difficult when you visit some of these charities, particularly in Luton where they support a lot of vulnerable people coming in, it’s quite shocking seeing the deprivation.
What do you enjoy most about volunteering with FareShare?
I think it’s working with the other volunteers in the warehouse and the group at Milton Keynes, they are all so nice. I like the community feel and the great work that is being done by SOFEA. I enjoy the camaraderie that goes with that.
It’s also a great workout, it saves you going to the gym.
Have you learnt any skills since volunteering with FareShare?
I’ve learnt how to navigate driving in and out of places. I would love to work towards being a forklift driver.
What is one thing that might surprise people when volunteering at FareShare?
The generosity of the supermarkets and the amount of really good food that is given to FareShare. We recently visited Gist in Hemel Hampstead who do the logistics for M&S and we were collecting the most amazing meat which still had 10 days on the best before date and they were just giving it to us.
I also think people may be shocked at the amount of food that would have gone to waste if it wasn’t redistributed. I don’t think people realise how much is potentially chucked out by supermarkets which are still perfectly good to eat and has plenty of time left on it.
How has volunteering made a difference in your life?
Mentally it has made a big difference because I wasn’t in a good place before I started volunteering. Having your business almost collapse around you isn’t good for your mental health. Putting something back into the community by volunteering during a difficult time makes you feel good on those days that you volunteer.
What has been your most memorable experience so far?
Going into these huge supermarket depots and realising the mammoth operation it takes to get food around the country. On my first day I went to Waitrose to collect some food and was told to go to bay 316. I was this tiny van amongst a warehouse full of these large articulated lorries. It was really surprising.
What would you say to someone who was thinking about joining FareShare as a volunteer?
Definitely do it. You will get so much out of it. The people are fantastic to work with, it gets you out meeting people, plus it’s physical and really enjoyable.
