Eve marks a year of volunteering
Actor Eve Delaney has been volunteering with the food bank for over a year.
In between juggling her freelance career as an actor, comedy-writer, artist and copywriter, Eve Delaney devotes her time to Hackney Foodbank.
The 27-year-old, who had parts in Big Boy and, Stath Lets Flats, has been volunteering for three hours a week every week for the past year in one of the food bank’s distribution centres, giving emergency food parcels to people experiencing financial hardship.
She has become part of a thriving friendship group of volunteers and loves meeting the visitors each week.
She said: “When I started a year ago, it was quieter. Now it’s consistently busy. We meet a variety of people – people whose benefits payments haven’t come in, many with health conditions and people who are waiting for operations. It’s really good that people here will chat to them and help them navigate the different systems to find help.”
Eve feels particular empathy for those managing health conditions. She struggles with chronic fatigue and that and vertigo recently left her bedbound for nine months and housebound for another 18 months.
She added: “I end up talking to a lot of people about their health – I can really understand what they’re going through. When I was ill I was in the privileged situation of being able to live with my parents and they could support me. That isn’t the same for everyone.
“If people are in crisis, they just need to know where to turn to sometimes.
“It’s nice when someone comes in and tells you their situation is about to get better. I do remember them and think about them in the week. You meet lots of really interesting people.
“Sometimes people are in a really desperate situation – one woman came for the first time and she was crying. She was so overwhelmed. She had no money and had been skipping meals – they were tears of relief.”
Hackney Foodbank urgently needs more volunteers to help in the warehouse, as drivers and at the food distribution centres.
Eve added: “It’s really easy to volunteer, people think it’s a difficult thing to get into but it really isn’t. If you’ve three hours spare a week, what better way is there to spend it? It’s nice. You get to meet such nice people and even though you meet people in desperate situations, you don’t leave and feel down; you feel uplifted because people are doing something about it instead of just sitting there watching it happen on the news.”
Warehouse volunteers are needed Monday to Friday, 8.30am-11.30am or 12pm-3pm. Food distribution centres are open in Hoxton (Mondays 11am-1pm), Dalston (Tuesdays 11am-1pm), Clapton (Wednesdays 5pm-6.45pm), Stoke Newington (Thursdays 12pm-2.30pm) Pembury (Fridays 6pm-8pm) and Haggerston (Saturdays 10am-12pm). Drivers are needed Monday to Saturday - daytime and evenings.
To volunteer, please visit www.hackney.foodbank.org.uk/volunteer and fill in the application form.