I moved from South London to Walthamstow a week before lockdown happened, and it made the experience of living through the pandemic even stranger to also be somewhere new. In the space of a week pretty much everything in my life had changed. With my diary empty, I signed up to volunteer for several local food distribution initiatives, and was lucky to discover I lived down the road from The Hornbeam, a non-profit community café and environmental centre, who were looking for cycle volunteers for their food delivery service. I signed up and soon had a few regular deliveries to do. It was a great way to get to know Walthamstow on my bike and to escape being overwhelmed by the news. I think it really helped me get through the first few weeks.

The food the Hornbeam delivers is all surplus from supermarkets and shops – i.e. stuff that would be thrown away otherwise. Their volunteers collect from local shops (one of my favourite jobs has been picking up sacks of sourdough loaves from a fancy bakery – who would otherwise be throwing away around 50 loaves a week!) Volunteers at the café then turn the food collected into hot meals and grocery packages for distribution. At the start of the pandemic the Hornbeam became listed as one of the council’s food banks, so people struggling due to health reasons or financial strains are referred to their service.

one of our choir project participants greets kate with a bouquet as thanks for her composition

They quickly grew to having nearly 100 recipients, which was way more than they had capacity for, so they asked me if I’d be able to help with the administration of the service too. I was really happy to help but I'd never done anything like this before, and was not prepared for how intense an experience it would be.  My first job was to call recipients to check how they were doing with the service, which was sometimes very stressful! My housemates had to put up with me on the phone all day saying

‘hello I’m calling about your food delivery

……..

YOUR FOOD DELIVERY. That’s right, your food delivery!’. 

There are all sorts of communication and language barriers to overcome, and some extremely vulnerable people receiving the deliveries.  It’s a logistical jigsaw, but it’s also emotionally draining. The food bank’s service borders on social work, and the experience has made me realize how unbelievably stretched the social support available in this country is. The more I’ve done, the more shocked I’ve been by the gaps in our social care system and how easy it is for anyone to fall through them.

Another thing that has really struck me across all the conversations I’ve had in this time is how much need there is for stronger communities.  Although the recipients all obviously need food, they also really really need someone to talk to.  For a few of my regular recipients I am pretty much the only person they see – and I’m not sure that would have been any different pre-COVID. I’ve been volunteering for the Hornbeam for 3 months now, and have been so moved by the people who have come together to make it happen. It’s incredible how close we can all live to each other whilst being worlds apart, and I really hope that some of the new relationships and experiences created out of the pandemic will have a lasting positive impact on how people see and relate to each other.

Kate Whitley