4Uth 2020 winners

James Kirkland, 17, Newark

James Kirkland

As soon as the first lockdown was announced, Jamie contacted the Newark food bank and asked if he could volunteer to help in any way possible. He had been volunteering in another role for part of his Duke of Edinburgh Award that had to be put on hold due to Covid-19 and really wanted to find an alternative volunteering role that he could get involved with.

Since April 2020 Jamie has attended the Newark food bank warehouse to collect food parcels to deliver out to people in need. As lockdown started to ease and Jamie was preparing to return back to college in September, he asked if he could continue to be involved with the Foodbank at the weekend.

Before the pandemic the food bank ran from a church, and anyone coming to collect food would also have the opportunity to talk to trained volunteers and be offered a warm drink and some food. As the doors had to close, the food bank had to adapt, and without volunteer delivery drivers it would not have been possible to get essential food parcels out.

Jamie wants to make a difference to the lives of people who are less fortunate than him. Jamie was always smiling despite the fact that he was having to do his school work from home and wasn’t able to socialise with his friends due to the lockdown restrictions.



Share this page?