“Volunteering (as an assistant chef) at the meal service has been brilliant, it was initially an opportunity to get out of the house during COVID-19 as I had just finished my nutritional therapy dissertation. I had stopped working so I didn’t feel like I was achieving anything in my day. Volunteering helped me to feel like I was doing something useful for people once a week, which also helped my sense of worth. It was my first experience of volunteering in a kitchen and I always wanted to help in a commercial kitchen. Volunteering helped me to make the switch from an engineer to a nutritional therapist by helping to confirm what I enjoyed and what’s important to me. For example, I can tell the difference between when I’ve been volunteering and when I haven’t. I realised I valued face-to-face time with the people you want to help and it makes you understand what work is needed and pressing. It’s helpful for my new career to see how other people manage the kitchen and the participants. Volunteering has also supported my wellbeing. I felt more useful working in the community kitchen during a period where I wasn’t working. I felt actually valued once a week. You also had a sense of accomplishment as at the end of each shift you had made an impact (by sending out over 450 meals).”