A Slice of Bread and Butter
The voice of The Bread and Butter Thing - with stories from the frontline of the cost of living crisis from one of the UK's leading food charities.
A Slice of Bread and Butter
Team Talk: The secret sauce behind connecting communities through food
What happens when affordable food becomes the catalyst for community connection? In the second of our Team Talk podcast mini series, we catch up with some of the seasoned veterans of Bread and Butter and our Chair of Trustees to unpick the magic that powers the organisation. From Dan's fondness for Flixton to Alicia's five North East faves, each team member reveals how these hubs have now become extended families.
Welcome back to A Slice of Bread and Butter with Mark and Vic from the Bread and Butter Thing. We're a charity that delivers affordable food to the hearts of struggling neighbourhoods, to help nourish communities and act as a catalyst for change.
Speaker 2:And Fraser's still here. Yeah, I'm still here.
Speaker 1:We've also got Fraser with us again this week. How are you doing, Fraser?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm good, and if you don't know who I am, you'll need to go back and listen to the one before. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Great plug.
Speaker 3:Good plug.
Speaker 2:We provide access to a nutritious, affordable range of food, which means our members can save money on their shopping, feed their families, health, as well as access other support right in the heart of their communities.
Speaker 1:And this is where we share a slice of life of somebody involved in the bread and butter thing and hear about how they connect with us.
Speaker 2:So this is the second conversation about CDDOs that have been around for a while, as well as our chair of trustees, brilliant.
Speaker 4:Let's have a listen. My name's Dan, from Manchester Trafford. I've got cats, dogs, snakes, fish, rats, quite a few different things. A zoo, yeah, a zoo, a zoo. We. Like to think that. Said to my housemate, she can have whatever she wants, just not a spider. My name's Luke. I work in a Trafford warehouse.
Speaker 5:A zoo, we like to think that, said to my housemate, she can have whatever she wants, just not a spider. Come on, my name's Luke. I work in the Trafford warehouse and I don't have any pets. I could borrow Blue.
Speaker 2:Whenever you want, mate, you can borrow Blue, that's not a problem.
Speaker 5:She's bigger than me.
Speaker 6:Yeah, she's very glad that he's here today Going round the table my name have a Staffie rescued from the RSPCA about two years ago, something like that Beautiful dog, very small for a Staffie, but very kind. What about you? I don't have any pets, no.
Speaker 2:No, well, you've got dogs.
Speaker 7:I am Will and currently Chair of Trustees.
Speaker 2:Will is understating. This because Will's a lifer. This because Will's a lifer.
Speaker 1:Will's a bread and butter lifer, and there's only me and him that have been here since the get-go, really, and Will is Mr.
Speaker 7:Brand, so all of the amazing imagery that we have is all designed by Will which actually all goes back to actually before we started, when it was a germ of an idea in Mark's head and we had numerous chats about what they have, some different names, didn't it back then, and what have you? And so, yeah, it goes back to the start. In terms of pets, my wife is a serial dog rescuer. If it was down to her, we'd have about 60 dogs. I limit it, so we've at the moment we've got two rescues, got a rescued greyhound who's an ex-racer and a rescued whippet. Obviously, greyhounds like a big dog, but it's. They literally sleep all day. They're the easiest dog in the world. They do absolutely nothing, so they're very easy to look after. I was going to say, do they still?
Speaker 5:run.
Speaker 8:Ideally no like a run.
Speaker 7:It's like a run, just like.
Speaker 2:Have you got pets Vic?
Speaker 1:No, you've had dogs, yeah. Yeah, was it a Ridgeback? You had no GSP.
Speaker 2:GSP.
Speaker 1:German Shorthead Pointer.
Speaker 2:Is that? It? Is that your story done?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's my story done, yeah.
Speaker 2:This is about you.
Speaker 8:it's not about me, Jo. I'm Jo. I'm from the Chiltern Warehouse, I don't have any pets, but I do have don't. However, I'm very, very tempted sometimes to put the youngest one in the cupboard under the stairs, because that's what she needs.
Speaker 9:And I'm Alicia. I'm from the Chiltern warehouse as well and I don't have any pets, because I just don't have time for them, because I've also got three children, so we've just been talking to like the newbies and you guys are more like the establishment.
Speaker 2:They were talking about first impressions, I guess. For you guys then it would be more overall impressions about what you think bread and butter does and how it does it for communities. Who's your favorite hub?
Speaker 8:fordley. You love fordley.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do love and you've done a great job moving it around to all of its different venues.
Speaker 8:I do love ford yeah, they are a great set of volunteers and the members are just lovely and I like it because week in, week out, you see the same faces, so you get to share little snippets of their life as well, and I love that. Yeah, they love it too, jo, yeah definitely yeah.
Speaker 4:Flixton yeah, mine would be Flixton, again, very similar to Jo. It's getting to know the people that are there. You know, you know them all by name, you know the quirks, you know what they do and things like that, and it's just, it's good to have that. And they know your quirks, they do, they do. They know to get my brew ready on the table when I'm there. It's my favourite hub they always make me like 50 pounds of toast.
Speaker 1:It's great, it's good, but again, Dan, you're really invested in that because you were integral in moving it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we've moved it once and it's the best it's ever been.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but that was tricky with the volunteers and they didn't want the change and you got that through.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I joined the two groups together, and it took a little bit of work, but we did it and they thrive. They've made so many new friends with each other and you know, the hubs are all about community and bringing communities together, so it's good. So what about you?
Speaker 6:Matt Redhall for me has got to be my hub Redhall, wow, okay.
Speaker 1:So I thought that you would really like Cockerton or Arthur Wharton I like those hubs as well but Redhall is just my favourite.
Speaker 6:It's like doing a hub with your mates really. The volunteers there are great. The members are the same. You know everyone's name. They all know you. It's easy.
Speaker 5:There's never any problems. For me I think it's one of the best hubs we have. Obviously haven't experienced even a fraction of the world, but uh, yeah, it's just, it's for me. What about you, luke? Um, I'd probably say my favorite hub is holtz. I get along really well with the volunteers because obviously they do other hubs that I do and you know the members and it's lovely. You know they ask you about your day and you could just chat to them like it's an old mate really. But I have to give a shout-out to Birchwood, because when I first took the job that had just opened and I remember Justin was like this is going to be your hub. So they're brilliant, the volunteers there. Alicia.
Speaker 9:I don't know if I can choose between any four, four of the five that I do like. So I really do like four of the main ones that I do, so that would be like St Aidan's on a Monday. I do Eden Hill on a Tuesday, which is just absolute bedlam, but they're just such a nice group of people. Red Hill, red Hall sorry, red Hill.
Speaker 6:Red Hill's mine.
Speaker 9:Wednesday I go to Wheatley Hill and Thursday I would do Red Hall. Red Hill and Family Gateway on Friday, but I couldn't pick out the four out of the five that I do Best view out of all of those.
Speaker 2:Eden, surely yeah.
Speaker 1:Wheatley Hill. Wheatley Hill, no, but in the car park on the back you've just got rolling hills.
Speaker 8:Yeah, I see the sea from Eden Hill. Yeah, you, can you see the sea?
Speaker 2:Coastal view.
Speaker 8:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Headlands has got a good view.
Speaker 1:Headlands has got an amazing view when you stand on the street and the sea's just at the end and it's a glorious sunny day.
Speaker 2:Just going to drop it in again. The one that we'll have is Whitby.
Speaker 8:We don't have any by the sea, so You're all inland You've got grey streets and smog, oh sorry. Off grey streets and smog, oh sorry.
Speaker 2:Oh, Joe, Okay the regional tension's started.
Speaker 6:Harden Clough was quite nice when I did that. That was a nice little.
Speaker 5:Harden Clough is nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a nice drive as well.
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, I'm going to say some of the Oldham ones have got rolling nails they have.
Speaker 5:Yeah, shoulders going to shoulders.
Speaker 4:I was just going to say when I first set up Old Leek, the drive to Old Leek, it's just.
Speaker 1:Did you hear that when I set up Old Leek, when I helped set up Old Leek, Dan had his cape on that day.
Speaker 4:When we first went to Old Leek we asked for the volunteers to come round and I swear there was about 30 of them that stood up. We had a small circle around us and we were like, oh, let's get more chairs, yeah it really was crazy, but old leet's phenomenal.
Speaker 1:They bring a band in on the week or they do bingo on the stage and a cabaret around us.
Speaker 4:It's hilarious once and we me and one of the volunteers used to help drive the van. We did a quiz there. We didn't do very well because he didn't know any local knowledge doesn't seem to be much around there, but there's just loads going on so clearly it's great there.
Speaker 2:Clearly you lot get a lot out of it oh yeah, of course, you know what do you think they get out of it a family.
Speaker 4:Community is a family. They all help each other. I know people in flixston and that have helped each other saint peter's in in swinton that they've all got new friends from it.
Speaker 5:You know they all go out for lunch and coffees and I don't think we can ever underestimate the bringing together of communities that we actually do not just the volunteers, but the members as well.
Speaker 1:And I've just seen something that came through saying how brilliant you've just been at sorting out the volunteers and making everyone feel welcome at Redhall.
Speaker 9:Redhill, redhill.
Speaker 1:Yes In.
Speaker 9:Stockton.
Speaker 4:It's his favourite hub I don't even know the name, because we're on the same day.
Speaker 9:But yeah, there was an influx of volunteers, like 15 in a little tiny library and it was just like, yeah, we have no space for anybody to go, but we were done packing within the hour and everybody obviously because we're all new, so you do obviously watch your name, that kind of thing you lot do an amazing job of making people feel welcome.
Speaker 1:So I've been to a few different similar things not bread and butter hubs, but similar. The vibe there is really different. It's quite clicky with the volunteers so you don't feel like you could join in, but you guys facilitate that, so new people come along and it's like come on, the more, the merrier at the end of the day, you couldn't do what we do without the volunteers, so you need to make them feel welcomed.
Speaker 9:You know when, when I'm at a hub, I don't feel sure they are your set of volunteers.
Speaker 1:They are my colleagues.
Speaker 8:Yeah, yeah absolutely and as much as ultimately. Yes, I'm the one in charge. There's nothing that I wouldn't do that they wouldn't do and I would never expect them to do something that I wouldn't. It is kind of like a little bit like a family environment.
Speaker 9:But at the end of the day, if somebody was standing back and watching you do all the work while we get paid for it and they don't, they're not going to be like oh yeah, I'll help you because at the end of the day, you're going to have to be in beside with them. Do you know what I mean? Like shoulder to shoulder, helping them, they are helping us. We could never do it without them so what do you get out of?
Speaker 2:it will, apart from mark, made me do it.
Speaker 7:I'm just going to comment on the community aspect, which is obviously it's absolutely fantastic. I say, you know, it's not something that we even thought about at the start, was it? It's just happened as we've engaged with communities it's a great consequence, though, right absolutely fantastic consequence and it's all I know.
Speaker 7:We've used this expression a lot, but you know it starts with food, so people come for the food, but then they meet their communities and quite often these are people who don't engage. I remember that story you told years ago in salford where an hs bus turned over health bus turned up and was like what are you doing here?
Speaker 7:it's like well, well, we're here because you're here because you bring people together yeah, they bring people together and they won't engage with us, but obviously, whilst you've got captive, audience will come and talk to you. That aspect has been absolutely fantastic, but not partly rich.
Speaker 2:They just they just happened and that itself it yeah it is yeah of course it has, yeah which is, which, I think, is I'm gonna get into edits so that we we did plan it and we knew it all along.
Speaker 7:This is my master plan.
Speaker 1:Obviously you did, but yeah of course it's like when Jane says, when you said I always wanted to support lots of communities, and Jane's like, no, no, you started out to just do three or four.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so Jane's view of this was that it was always going to be a small thing. You said it was going to be a small thing. I said no, it's always going to be a small thing. You said it was going to be a small thing. I said no, it was always going to be a national. No, no, no, it was small, no national. And we still don't agree. I don't know how many bottles of wine we must have had that night. Let's get the pet thing out of the way first. So clearly, dan's got a lot of pets.
Speaker 1:Dan, yeah, has a lot of quite unusual pets.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it seems to be a common thread. There's a lot of our team have a lot of pets.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and if anybody saw the posts that we put on social on Love your Pet Day, they will see that for sure. There's lots of pictures of our team and their pets.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:Went a bit wild with that one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when we talked about the new CDDOs, they were all enthusiastic, talking about their social value, the community and all the rest of it. This is more the kind of long termers and how it evolves as a conversation and it's really interesting how they're all really invested in their volunteers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they've clearly made those connections and they've fostered them over quite a period of time and they've all done really great work building the volunteer pool, or Dan's merged two groups of volunteers and made it work in when we've moved hubs about. So I guess it's the deepened connections within the community that are coming through.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's the same again. Right, it's almost people-driven in their values, because nobody particularly moaned about how hard the job is, how physical the job is, how cold and wet and etc. It can be, and yet everybody had stories to tell you about the volunteers or their communities.
Speaker 3:I liked, where I was probing Vic yesterday to try and get under the skin a little bit of what was going on and understand the organisation a bit better. And when I had asked you, do the CDDOs go back to the same hubs all the time? And it became very apparent that they're very protective over their hubs yeah, and it just, it just shows that the relationships are there and built and it just works right totally and it goes the other way as well, fraser, because you can see the same from the volunteers and the members if you change out the CDDOs as well.
Speaker 2:There's a relationship there both ways, and everybody's bought in it'll'll just knock the routine right.
Speaker 3:The routine probably exists and someone else has got a different routine.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is really funny. If you send a different CDDO to the hub, they're like well, where's so-and-so? If I ever cover a hub, it's not hi, I'm really pleased to meet you. It's well, we wanted Dan.
Speaker 2:Can Dan not come this week? Yeah, I've experienced the same and before all the CDDOs start saying he's never bloody done it for years, I absolutely hold my hand up and say I haven't done it for years. But when I have, I've turned up and I've gone like who are you? You're new, go and stand over there.
Speaker 1:We know what we're doing and it's like well, hang on a minute, I just need to just check a few things the other thing that didn't come out on the conversation but is really apparent in the northeast is lots of the volunteers work at multiple hubs, so they donate the time multiple days of the week in a local area. And I'll never forget going to a Darlington hub and there was a volunteer there that said to me well, who are you? So I was like, oh hi, I'm Vic. I'm with the bread and butter thing. Well, I've never seen you before. I volunteer five days a week, don't you know?
Speaker 3:which is great yeah, 100, and it's good to see that the volunteers obviously feel very passionate about what they're doing as well. Right, especially if they're giving up five days a week yeah, for lots of volunteers.
Speaker 1:It helps them get out. The gives them a reason to be sociable. So lots of our volunteers are also members and want to be involved in the support that they're receiving.
Speaker 2:But you can also see that in Alicia's stories around how she's had to change times on hubs and things and they've worked with her. It's got to be two-way. You can't just say, oh, this is happening, sort of thing. You've got to work with them and they're invested in their own community as much as they're invested in Brenna Butter and it's brilliant.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the guys are the best people to do any changes at Hubs. So if we do need to tweak the timing or swap from the church to the community centre, they're the best people to lead it. They've done that time and time again and they've got the volunteers on board.
Speaker 3:I guess it's just taking everyone on the journey at the same time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, correct yeah, cddos are definitely the secret sauce of bread and butter.
Speaker 1:Well, I think that Will should get a mention in that too, because he's the brand right.
Speaker 2:Well, if you asked Will, he'd just say I just draw pretty pictures. I know Will has drawn pretty pictures Will is an old mate and he has helped me massively in the early days and I don't think he thanks me nowadays for being the chair of trustees.
Speaker 1:I think he enjoys it secretly, he does.
Speaker 2:He does. Yeah, he is the brand, but the Pony Express of it being delivered every day, that's the CD Diot 100%.
Speaker 1:So if you'd like to know more about the bread and butter thing and what we get up to, you can find us on Team TBBT, on Instagram and Twitter or LinkedIn, or online at thebreadandbutterthing. And before you mention it, mark, we're also on TikTok.
Speaker 1:Thank you, and if you have any feedback or thoughts on the podcast or would like to come and be a guest, drop us a line at email at podcast, at bread and butter thingorg lastly, we're always open to new members at all of our hubs, so if you or someone you know would benefit from our affordable food scheme, you can find your nearest hub on the become a member pages of our website and please do all those things that podcasts ask you to do.
Speaker 2:You know the sort of thing. Like us, subscribe, leave us a review, share us with your friends and chat about us on social Thanks. Is that it, Thanks?
Speaker 1:See you next time.
