Volunteers’ Week Spotlight: Tom

In celebration of Volunteers’ Week this week, we are sharing Tom’s Volunteering Story…

Tom’s Story

It was only a happy accident that brought Tom to FareShare Greater Manchester.

Originally from Nigeria, and now a resident of Blackley, Tom had previously held a couple of jobs in sales which he took on to help build his communication skills, but he had always felt strongly drawn to a career in catering. So, as soon as he could, he enrolled on a course in Professional Cookery at Harpurhey College.

 

“Finding FareShare was a happy accident!” – Tom

In November of last year, Tom’s aunt (who works in a local church), passed a flyer advertising volunteer roles with FareShare to Tom’s mother, knowing that she wanted to do something for her new community. Tom offered to accompany his Mum to her induction day for moral support, and to his great surprise, he found the role so inspiring that he signed up too.

Since then, Tom and his Mum have been assisting in the food warehouse, where Tom quickly gained first-hand experience in the intricacies of food distribution. Soon he discovered how to pick and pack orders, compile and dispatch orders, use pallets and how to practically organise goods. He says that constant growth in so many areas really helped develop his attention to detail.

Gaining new skills

On top of his warehouse role, Tom joined the Culinary Skills team, in which FareShare volunteers assist our Community Chef Maz Linford-Platt. Maz teaches our Community Food Members (the organisations who receive our food) the importance of incorporating more fruit and veg into their diets through our Vegelicious Programme, alongside practical tuition in cookery skills.

Tom credits his very productive time at FareShare with equipping him with a wide range of personal and professional skills. He says they have enhanced his overall employability, including practical warehouse experience, improved confidence and communication skills, the ability to take responsibility, and making him open to new things.

His hands on learning has been underpinned by completing certifications in Food Hygiene and Health & Safety via our e-learning platform.

 

Valuable support

Tom says the support he received from staff helped him build his new skills and then design a “beautiful CV”. He credits this as giving him an enormous confidence boost and is certain it was instrumental in him securing a new job as a Kitchen Porter at a prestigious city centre hotel after just a short time volunteering with us.

Prior to that, he said he had been applying for “a lot of jobs” and getting rejections every time. This cemented his belief that practical experience is regarded at least as highly as qualifications and certificates. He added that the whole volunteering team helped him with lots of great advice, as well as encouragement, which was every bit as valuable to him.

Next steps

In the short-term, Tom is hoping to complete his college qualifications, and then plans to either go to university to complete a BSc in Catering and Hospitality, or gain more practical professional experience, with the aim of becoming a Sous Chef in the next few years, and maybe ultimately a “top notch Head Chef!”

Despite his clear ambition though, Tom says “I don’t think it’s farewell to FareShare.” He says of his time with the organisation that it has been an entirely positive experience, with immense camaraderie between the volunteers and supervisors, and for that reason he envisages coming back to offer his support whenever he can.

If you would like to find out more about Volunteering and Employability with FareShare Greater Manchester, please check out our Volunteering webpage.