{"id":845,"date":"2025-01-14T12:35:33","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T12:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/connectedaberdeen.org\/woodside\/?p=845"},"modified":"2025-01-14T12:36:31","modified_gmt":"2025-01-14T12:36:31","slug":"volunteer-spotlight-fersands-pantry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/connectedaberdeen.org\/woodside\/2025\/01\/14\/volunteer-spotlight-fersands-pantry\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer Spotlight \u2013 Fersands Pantry"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Many of the fantastic services at the Woodside Fountain Centre couldn\u2019t run without the selfless hard work and dedication of amazing volunteers and the Fersands Pantry is no exception.<\/p>

Open two days a week, the pantry is run by a phenomenal group of women, stocking the shelves and offering a friendly face to their customers.<\/p>

Catching up with Lorna, Vi and Alison, three members of this team to find out more about the pantry and their volunteering.<\/p>

Between the three of them, the ladies have been volunteering for 50 years, not just with the pantry but with various other services at the centre.<\/p>

Lorna, the longest running volunteer of the 3 has been involved for 30 years, having started out helping with the kids\u2019 clubs and playschemes when her children were small, she now helps at the pantry, and is a member of the Fersands SCIO Committee.<\/p>

Lorna loves the pantry as she feels \u201cit takes away the stigma of the foodbank and gives people the confidence to do a shop\u201d.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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On top of that, the ladies have made lots of new friends. Vi says \u2018Abody speaks to ye, they get to ken your name. Even when you\u2019re oot and boot, people say \u2018Vi, fit you deein here?\u2019 You make connections with folk, I didn\u2019t know Lorna or Alison before the Pantry.\u201d<\/p>

Alison agrees. \u201cIt\u2019s nice, when you\u2019re out and about, there\u2019s always someone you end up bumping into and it\u2019s usually from the pantry they know you.\u201d<\/p>

Lorna\u2019s favourite memory of volunteering at the Pantry over the years is from when it was first set up six years ago. Fersands Pantry was the first Pantry in Scotland and Lorna, along with a few other volunteers travelled down to Manchester to visit a Food Pantry there and learn all about the running of it. \u201cIt was brilliant, getting to see how it all worked and learn from a lady who had set up the pantries.\u201d That is no doubt a proud moment, to be part of such a trailblazing moment. Others in Scotland have now sought the wisdom of the ladies when setting up their own pantries.<\/p>

Overall, Alison enjoys the great strong community spirit that she sees in Woodside. \u201cEverybody sticks together and helps everybody out.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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For those who are not familiar with the service, the pantry is open on Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons and is available for Woodsiders all the way from the Haudigan Roundabout to the Northern Hotel. Simply pay \u00a33 per year for your membership and a futher \u00a33 each shop to get 10 items of your choice from the pantry. Items are donated by cfine and you can certainly get more than your money\u2019s worth from the stock which lines the shelves.<\/p>

You can also donate items to the pantry too, so if you are able to spare anything, why not pop in a donation.<\/p>

If you\u2019ve been inspired by the ladies, more volunteers are always welcome! Contact the Centre by calling 01224 524925<\/a> or email (which email is best?)<\/p>

The volunteers, make the service all the more special, Well done and thank you to Lorna, Vi, Alison and the other amazing pantry volunteers for giving up their time to offer a friendly face and a supportive hand.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many of the fantastic services at the Woodside Fountain Centre couldn\u2019t run without the selfless hard<\/p>\n