An orchestra has been formed at FareShare Cymru to help celebrate the charities 10^th anniversary.

It was all the idea of warehouse volunteer Nick Whiting who, when he’s not driving a forklift full of surplus food, is the Associate Leader and First Violin at the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
 
Nick Whiting says;
When I started volunteering a year and a half ago in lockdown 1.0, I needed something else to do apart from trying to work from home. I saw an advert for FareShare and it looked like fun. And it is fun! When I first walked into the warehouse I thought “oh what a lot of food, and a nice acoustic, we should do a concert here!”
 
When he knew FareShare Cymru’s 10^th anniversary was coming up, Nick put an appeal out to the 70 strong volunteer roster and two fellow musicians returned the call. David Simpson came on board with his whistle and Glyn Price brought his cello and, after a few weeks of arranging the pieces and rehearsing, it was time for the big day.  
The three volunteers were joined by musicians Beverley Wescott and Angharad Jones to perform a half hour concert to entertain 80 invitees. The performance included pieces such as ‘Harvest Home’, ‘Jenny Pluck Fareshare Pears’ and a FareShare Cymru version of ‘Ferdinand the Bull’.
Watch below for a short montage of the performance (FULL RECORDING AVAILABLE)

It gave me goosebumps. – Laura Thomas, The Bridge Mentoring Plus Scheme

What an amazing surprise the musical performance was. – Lee Hedgecock, South West Network Development Manager, FareShare UK

The guests also got to experience a lunch cooked with surplus ingredients made by Welsh cook and 2013 Bake Off Semi-Finalist Beca Lyne Pirkis. You can read more about the event on our website.
 
This is just one example of the great opportunities that come out of volunteering for FareShare Cymru. As well as organising this concert, Nick has also gained a forklift qualification whilst volunteering. Nick Whiting encourages others to volunteer too;
You’re doing something incredibly useful. It’s a great place to work and you get a bit fitter too.

FareShare Cymru is always on the lookout for volunteers, especially in our warehouse and to drive our vans. For more information visit fareshare.cymru/volunteer-with-us or email volunteer@fareshare.cymru