Marleen Schepers, profile piece

If you’ve read our newsletter in the past, you’ll know by now that every month we speak to someone who supports the Foodbank and echoes our aim of ending food insecurity. This month, we spoke to Marleen Schepers, a warehouse volunteer who is organising this year’s Christmas Hamper Appeal.

Read on to find out more about how Marlene first got involved as a volunteer, how this year’s Christmas Hamper Appeal is shaping up, and how you can get involved!

Can you tell us about yourself and your background prior to joining the Foodbank?

My background is in cross-cultural communications, social justice and international development. I’ve worked with refugees and migrant workers, and I worked internationally on child labour issues. In 2012, I started working for Quakers in Britain at Friends House in London. I was the coordinator for the World Conference of Quakers in Kenya in 2012, and after that, supported Quakers nationally with their work in prisons in the UK.

I moved to Cambridge in 2017 to be with my now husband and stepchildren and became involved in the Quaker community in the city. After a while, the London commute started to take a toll and I just didn’t want to do it anymore, so I started to look for part-time and voluntary roles in Cambridge. A friend of mine suggested volunteering at the Foodbank. I was familiar with the Foodbank already because I had donated to the Christmas Hamper Appeal which is typically included in the local Quakers newsletter.

In November last year, I started volunteering in the warehouse for a few hours a week packing, sorting and organising donations which I still do. A few months ago, I saw in this newsletter that the Foodbank was looking for a volunteer to take the lead with the Christmas Hamper Appeal and being aware that more and more families and children live in poverty in the UK, I knew it was something I wanted to help with. After a few conversations, I’m now leading and organising this year’s appeal!

Can you tell us about how the Christmas Hamper Appeal will work this year?

As we normally do, hamper donations will be distributed to organisations in Cambridge who support people in their community, such as churches, the city council and our Fairbite Food Clubs. Just like previous years, we’re working with Cambridge Sustainable Food and the Cambridge City Council who will provide fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a Christmas toy.

Christmas is a time in which we celebrate, feast and share gifts with our loved ones. But for those facing financial hardship, this time of year can be particularly challenging. Our hampers include some basic essential food and hygiene items, as well as some festive treats to ensure that everyone, regardless of their financial situations, is able to enjoy the Christmas period.

Our hampers typically contain enough for a small family but this year, we will also be providing smaller hampers for individuals and for those who don’t necessarily require all of the essential food items included within our standard hampers.

The need for our support in Cambridge this year has been unprecedented, so to ensure that we have enough time to accept every hamper pledge possible, we’re launching the Appeal on 30 October. We’ll then be asking those who have pledged a hamper to bring them to Cambridge Business Park on Sunday 8 and Wednesday 11 December.

How can volunteers support the campaign?

The Christmas Hamper Appeal is always a busy time for us at the Foodbank, so the more volunteers that are able to support the appeal, the better! Especially on Sunday 8 and Wednesday 11 December when people will be dropping off the hampers they’ve pledged. We’re expecting hundreds of pledges, and every single one will have to be checked, organised and packed so it can be a lot of work.

On top of taking the donations in and sorting them, they need to be redistributed to other organisations on Friday 13 and Monday 16 December. This also takes a lot of time so we’ll need some extra hands across the whole of the two weeks.

On all the mentioned dates, we will have a mixture of shifts available ranging from a couple of hours to a full day. It’s always a really enjoyable and rewarding experience and is a perfect way to kick off the festive season – Christmas hats are optional!

If anyone reading his wants to help and get involved, get in touch with me via email on [email protected], or you can email the Foodbank directly at [email protected],uk.