Dionne’s Story: Forging important connections at Manchester Mind
18/07/2024
Pre-pandemic, in my delivery driver role for Good Mood Food (GMF), I was out and about a lot, meeting our customers who ordered our tasty buffet menus and
helping to set up lunches; all while liaising with my colleagues in the kitchen and having supportive chats with our kitchen volunteers.
I always had a sense of detachment from the main charity but was content enough working with our GMF team. Though the curiosity I had about the larger picture of the work being done to support people across Manchester with their mental health was always with me and I always wanted to know more.
During the times of lockdown living and emergency food provision, this sense of detachment increased as the main charity offices were understandably closed.
My wider charity colleagues and the work they carried out seemed even further away as they adapted to working from remote and safe spaces. We had a huge sense of community and fellowship in the kitchen while we prepared and cooked vast quantities of food with our allotment produce, “saved from landfill” food and the amazing people who volunteered with us to assist in our efforts.
Once restrictions had eased we could sadly no longer financially maintain our commercial kitchen space. Our team returned to the Zion Centre and adapted to the needs of the local community. Weekly support sessions were created to provide safe and warm spaces for people to access support for their mental health and advice for any benefits, housing, debt and health issues they were encountering.
My role now is supporting people into volunteering and helping those who already volunteer with us to develop their skills and experiences further, always with a focus on improving wellbeing. I am extremely thankful to the volunteers within our Food For All team who have stuck with us through many, and sometimes, turbulent changes. They have embraced opportunities to develop and have consistently contributed to the fantastic growth of the allotment space, helping to create warm and welcoming support spaces for people in the local area.
Recently, I’ve been working with a team of Manchester Mind staff who work with volunteers and with people who volunteer, to overhaul our volunteer programme with highlights in training, social events and facilitating ways to forge a charity wide volunteer community.
This leads me to finesse what I now know my reflection is about, the key word that I am focusing on, which illustrates this past year for me is Connection.
I feel connected to my colleagues and the services that they deliver. I feel connected to the people who access our services and who come to us for community and support. Mostly I feel hugely connected to the achievements, celebrations and challenges that our wonderful volunteer teams across the charity experience in their time of volunteering with us. I am immensely proud and humbled by their contributions of time, efforts and kindness to the work that we do and to the people who we support.
“ Through coming to the support sessions, I have gained a lot of confidence, which is why I now feel comfortable enough to volunteer.” Attendee at support session
