Raddon

He said: “I started working for Caritas in December 2022 and I applied for the job because it combined helping people and nature together in a role centred around food. Having previously studied sustainable food and having worked in community gardening before, it seemed like a perfect fit for me.  

“My role is really varied, involving crop planning, hands-on food growing on the allotment, welcoming groups of adults and school classes for education and wellbeing activities and making sure that the food pantry deliveries and opening times run smoothly. I also help coordinate two teams of dedicated volunteers for the pantry and allotment, who are invaluable to making both services possible.    

“There’s a lovely team of colleagues who support me in the job and are there to answer any questions I have, or step in to help if ever it’s needed.    

“I’m very lucky to be able to work in a role where I have the space to experiment with how best to maximise both sustainable food production and the wellbeing benefits of getting more people engaged in gardening. 

“Seeing the vegetables we produce on the allotment being taken home by people at the food pantry gives me a real sense of satisfaction, knowing that those people will be eating locally grown, organic produce which they otherwise might not have had access to.  

“I enjoy working for a charity and I always feel that the work I do is focussed directly on helping people rather than just contributing to company growth or profit targets. That in itself is a rewarding feeling.  I’ve been surprised by how quickly Caritas has been able to make positive changes to the way some services are run when suggestions have been made for improvement. It shows the charity is constantly trying to improve the way it operates and really cares about the people we help.     

“As we rely on donations of time and money to continue our work we also all have to try and maximise any opportunity to save costs where possible, which can lead to some quite creative DIY solutions on the allotment!  

“To sum up, I’d say, my work makes a difference by providing opportunities for people of all ages to engage in sustainable food growing in the city, whilst using the allotment produce, supermarket surplus and donated items to provide nourishing food to people in North Manchester.”