Each month, we will be featuring a different charity or other non-profit organisation that relies on the help of volunteers. In their words, you will hear what these organistions do and the difference volunteers make to them.
This month, we hear from Food Train. Read all about them below. If you would like to volunteer with Food Train, contact Grant Simmons on 01382 810944 or email grant@thefoodtrain.co.uk.
Who do you help and in what way?
We help local older people, over the age of 65. We have a number of different services that we provide that could be beneficial. Our main service, the grocery delivery service, helps older people who may struggle getting out and about, are housebound, or perhaps they struggle carrying the heavier items just. The Food Train are on hand to help out, we will do the shopping, delivering the shopping and even help put it all away if need be.
We also run a befriending service which helps to combat social isolation and loneliness. We offer this on a 1-2-1 or telephone basis. Through our befriending service we also run an “Out & About” programme where we offer our older people to come along to a lunch club on the first Friday of every month, as well as outings to different places in and around Dundee.
What difference do volunteers make to your organisation?
Volunteers make our organisation. We are a volunteer led charity, in that without them, we would not be able to operate. It is our volunteers who do the shopping and deliver the shopping. It is volunteers who give up their time to spend a couple hours with a lonely older person. Volunteers are everything to us.
What volunteers do you need at the moment?
At the moment, we would really benefit from some volunteer shoppers to help out in the supermarkets. We really need some volunteer befrienders also, I have a lot of lonely older people in Dundee who are currently waiting on a befriender.
And what benefits can they expect?
People who volunteer with us can expect the satisfaction of helping vulnerable older people in their area. Volunteers work together a lot of the time and therefore there’s opportunity to raise team building experiences. There are opportunities for free training courses within our organisation such as Moving and Handling training.
If no-one volunteered, where would you be?
If no one volunteered, our services would become very limited due to the fact that there are only 3 members of staff within our organisation. The customers that we deal with are already in a vulnerable state, hence why they come to us for assistance, if we weren’t available to provide said assistance our customers would be put in a really horrible position.
T H A N K Y O U
Thank you for looking into volunteering. As a charity, we know and see the difference you can make every day. From helping those facing difficulty or hardship to being a force for change in society. We hope you find it worthwhile and benefit in some way also. Around 1 in 4 adults in Dundee volunteer.