Deborah & Peaches

‘You always receive so much more than you give.’

They’re a perfect team. Deborah is organised and holds the place together. Peaches is tough and straight talking, but has a warm heart. Twice a week they spend an afternoon volunteering at the Foodbank.

Deborah saw the volunteering opportunity in our newsletter. She got involved, only planning to help pack bags over Christmas. But something significant happened. ‘What has taken place for me in these nine months has been truly life changing,’ she says.

Peaches was adamant that she didn’t want to volunteer. But, she explains, ‘I fell in love with the heart of the people, the community spirit.’

Deborah links her involvement to her faith. ‘It’s about the command that we feed the poor and look after the downtrodden,’ she explains. ‘And you always receive so much more than you give out. It isn’t just the food bags, it’s often the love of the Foodbank staff that touches clients deeply. Hearing people say, “this is a place where we find kindness,” is very rewarding.’

The team always offer prayer to their clients. Deborah tells the moving story of Jack. ‘He came to us very angry,’ she recalls. ‘But one day I felt God say, “Pop a Snickers in his bag,” so I did. He turned to me and said, “My absolute favourite. How did you know?” Well I didn’t. This led to an amazing conversation and something broke that afternoon. His anger was gone.’

From painting the walls of the Laundrette in 1989 to running the Foodbank in 2010, we would not exist without our volunteers.