I’m passionate about sustainability, especially when it comes to our food, but having spent a long time working within the food industry I have seen first-hand how our current system leads to huge volumes of good food being wasted. I worked most recently at the charity Fareshare where I was involved with a national programme that connects charity groups with their local stores to access surplus food. I have seen how surplus food can be used to engage people and build connections within our neighbourhoods. I believe that by coming together communities can design and be part of the best solutions to solve local problems and support each other, and that’s what Eggcup is all about!

I have worked around food for the vast majority of my working life. I have seen the amount of food that goes to waste through working in supermarkets and it never sat right with me. The fact that something entirely edible has to be thrown away simply because of a number printed on the packaging can’t be right. Working at eggcup has given me the chance to address this. The food that we send out to our members is of a good standard and is helping many people in our community. I love what we do here, it really makes you feel like you are making a difference to people’s lives.

As a Lancastrian I care deeply about this city and its people. When I left school, I started working for a local community organisation, which is where I first experienced the pleasure of working alongside volunteers. I have also worked for 2 local supermarkets and have seen first hand the shocking amount of food waste that still goes on today. I am passionate about reducing this and distributing perfectly good food to people who need it, so Eggcup is the perfect environment for me, supervising the depot and working alongside our wonderful volunteers. If you have any questions or suggestions or just want to talk, please come and see me. I’m interested in anything you guys have to say, and will try to take your ideas on board.

I’ve been involved in the voluntary and community sector for most of my working life, including in community supported agriculture. I’ve seen first hand how those who grow our food at one end of the supply chain and those who consume it at the other, seem to get the poorest deal. Not only is food an essential to life, I believe it’s also an essential ingredient for family, friendship and community. For me, Eggcup is one of those important organizations that aims to think globally and act locally and I’m proud to be part of this fantastic, team of volunteers and staff!

In my spare time I enjoy volunteering for The Access Project and National Plant Monitoring Scheme, growing veg and generally being outdoors.

I started volunteering at Eggcup at the beginning of 2022 every Thursday as I was getting restless working in admin from home. I heard about Eggcup through a friend, and got in touch as I believe in the values surrounding food waste, sustainability, and of course food justice. I enjoyed volunteering so much that it became the highlight of my week, so when the opportunity to work full time with Eggcup arose, I couldn't resist. I enjoy how varied working here is and I'm always amazed at how fantastic all the Eggcup team are and what both volunteers and staff achieve together.

I started at Eggcup as a volunteer during the first lockdown in 2020. Since then I've worked in the warehouse and at the Morecambe site. My role now is in getting food into eggcup, and I enjoy being able to work with distributors and especially growers to get more food through to our members. It's very eye opening heading to the farms and seeing the amount of waste our farmers have to create in our current systems, and I look forward to a day when what we eat is dictated by what local people can grow, not megacorp profits. Outside of work I like rock climbing, tabletop gaming, and eating (or cooking, is that what people normally say?)

During the Covid-19 pandemic I was furloughed and joined Eggcup in July of 2021 to keep me busy! I was motivated to volunteer at Eggcup to combat food poverty and the ever growing issue of food waste in our country. I was asked to be a supervisor in October of 2022 and I jumped at the opportunity! I am grateful for all the leaning I have done, all the new people I get to meet, and working with all the like minded people. Eggcup is a fantastic place to be, I love how positive and kind everyone is and it is amazing to see everyone work together to help the community.

Eggcup ticks all the boxes for me as it is a community based charity enabling local surplus food distribution.  Much of my working life has been in adult education, inside and outside classrooms, finding different ways of supporting learning. The way that Eggcup works is a great model, fitting food and people together.  Food poverty, and more recently food surplus, go back for me to the 1970s.  Then I worked in a food coop in Staffordshire, having moved to Lancaster I am now growing food in my community allotment in Heysham. I am a member of our local Friends group developing and maintaining our local playground and in spare moments enjoying singing in a local community choir.

As well as being an Eggcup trustee I am also co-chair of the Lancaster District Food Justice Partnership. I am also a trustee of Morecambe Bay Foodbank which has helped to work together a lot more closely. I have been part of the Morecambe Bay Poverty Truth Commission facilitation team since the start up group stage. I am one of the co-founders of Let's BeFriends, a homeless charity, and manage the staff. I am a trustee of Lancaster Methodist Church and also sit on the Lancaster District Health and Wellbeing partnership board.

The encouragement to volunteer during the pandemic pushed me in the direction of Eggcup so I signed up to do some driving. I find it appalling that in one of the richest countries in the world some people can’t afford to eat. For some time too I have become aware of the awful waste of food there is in the developed world. Since becoming involved with Eggcup I have seen the potential of community based activities to both support people in need and to help educate others in the importance of food sustainability. Being an Eggcup trustee gives me a great opportunity to use the experience and skills acquired over 40 years in teaching and management consultancy to help make a difference to my local community. In my other life I love playing golf, cooking and spending time with my family.

I came to eggcup through my other volunteering activities, where I saw how many people have difficulty getting enough food for themselves and their families. The food banks deal with brief crises, such as a benefits sanction or the sudden loss of a job. But we need longer- term ways to work with and support the many people who are always just on the edge of getting by, with jobs that don’t pay enough or give variable hours, and with erratic and punitive benefits.

So I joined this project thinking about food poverty. But as I’ve worked with my colleagues, I have become more aware of just how much food is wasted, of how it has become part of the system of food production and distribution, and of how much it costs the environment. (And I’ve become more aware of the waste in my own practices of shopping, cooking, and eating). The long-term challenge is both reducing food waste, and getting food that is in the wrong place to people who can use it.

To answer the question everyone asks me as soon as I open my mouth, I am originally from Idaho, in the Rocky Mountains of the western USA. I came to the UK more than 35 years ago, and taught linguistics for many years at Lancaster University. I retired two years ago. When I am not volunteering, I like to walk and take photos.