Oakstone Charity Initative: FaithWorks Food Bank Poole

During the run-up to Christmas, Oakstone wanted to help our local food bank to support those directly affected by the cost of living crisis.

Faithworks are a local Christian charity that works alongside people when life is hard, practically building hope and resilience to deal with times ahead.
They run practical projects around food, finance, recovery, homelessness, and lone parenting across Dorset, and seek to do these in venues where there is a range of help immediately on hand, where they can Listen to your story, Give Hope immediately, Act on what you say, and Inspire to see a way forward.

Over December, our team volunteered time to help assist the fantastic people who run Faithworks.

Seeing all the selfless people regularly dedicate their time and energy into such a worthy cause is inspiring. With the cost of living crisis, people genuinely rely on foodbanks to get by and it’s a privilege to be able to assist the volunteers to help get these essential packages out.

— Jodey Cheyne, Oakstone Marketing Manager

I thought it was a really positive and humbling experience. Particularly at Christmas, when people are having to be more careful with their spending, I was impressed by the selflessness of the volunteers and people who donated food.

Will go again!

— George Griffiths, Oakstone Senior Consultant

It was great getting a first-hand experience of the work they do at Faithworks. Their organisation is unparalleled, having seen the behind-the-scenes process. Everything they do really is about helping people & It was clear to see the impact that they make even in the short amount of time I was there.

— Lexie Whiting, Oakstone Senior Consultant

Faithworks will be a lifeline for more people than ever during the winter months in the current cost of living crisis. It’s vital that people in need have access to food banks and that volunteers continue to support the organisation – spending a morning there was an eye-opening experience but great to see how much hard work goes into the running of the food bank and to meet the lovely team of volunteers. It’s not easy work, but a fun and friendly environment, I will definitely be returning to help where I can.

— Laura Cuff, Oakstone Recruitment Consultant

It was great getting a first-hand experience of the work they do at Faithworks. Their organisation is unparalleled, having seen the behind-the-scenes process. Everything they do really is about helping people & It was clear to see the impact that they make even in the short amount of time I was there.

— Lexie Whiting, Oakstone Senior Consultant

Seeing the work they do there is a real eye opener to the amount of people they must help - it was nice to be a very small part of it and I’d definitely go back.

— Ollie Hill, Oakstone Senior Consultant

Faithworks Food Bank is a collection of charitable people, which dedicate hard-work to bettering the lives of the less fortunate. The relentless efforts they go to is marvelling, and deserves the highest commendation

— Jakub Cynarski, Oakstone Recruitment Consultant

Great group of people who give their time and energy for such a great cause – it was a pleasure to play just a small part in helping them and I hope to be invited back again.

Thank you so much for having us and sorry for having to endure Ollies singing all morning in the warehouse!

— Andy Strong, Oakstone Divisional Director

Volunteering at the Poole Food Bank was such a lovely experience, the other volunteers there were wonderful, and the atmosphere was so positive. You could really tell how much they care about what they do and the help they provide to local individuals and families. It has been amazing to see how their necessary work impacts our community and I am really looking forward to helping Faithworks again in the near future!

— Katherine Thorp, Oakstone Operations Manager

It was a lovely experience spending the morning volunteering at Faithworks food bank in Poole. The volunteers were great fun to work with and it was great to get a full insight into the hard work they do for the community.

— Tijan Newsome Stone, Recruitment Consultant

I recently had the great pleasure of supporting some of the team at Faithworks, each of whom are caring, noble and generous. They do an incredible job supporting individuals and families in need providing them with not only the necessities required to endure but also connections and a support network to help them plan to get them through challenging times.

— Burnice Lange, Oakstone Senior Consultant

Everyone was very positive, upbeat, and fun to work with, and they cared about the work they were doing too. I didn’t get to see the impact of the work they did first hand as I went to the storage centre, but it felt like everyone cared a lot.

— Ben Whaley, Oakstone Recruitment Consultant