A WOMAN who won a MBE for her services to Oldham has praised the “brilliant” team of volunteers she has led to help those in need during the pandemic.
Rebecca Kershaw, from Royton, won the prestigious honour in the Queen’s New Year Honours list after going above and beyond for people in the borough amid the coronavirus crisis.
The 36-year-old, who is charity Action Together’s social prescribing manager, teamed up with Oldham Foodbank when schools closed in early 2020 to help stop the spread of Covid-19.
A team of 120 volunteers from Action Together were assembled to head up an emergency response to allow the food bank to carry on operating.
But that great effort has continued throughout the pandemic.
Rebecca reported between December 20 and 24, the team delivered 213 seven-day parcels, feeding 306 adults and 201 children.
Overall, 6,241 week-long parcels were delivered by the team, handing out food to 8,653 adults and 5,548 children.
She believes the food bank, which she helped to move to larger premises from the former Three Crowns pub on Manchester Street in Oldham to two large warehouses in Derker, may have been forced to close without the help of the emergency volunteer response.
In between moving to the warehouses, Rebecca helped with the effort to set up a base at Oldham Leisure Centre's sports hall to gather donations in the early months of the first lockdown.
The food bank's base at Oldham Leisure Centre’s sports hall during the pandemic
Volunteers and an allotment society that donated their vegetables to the food bank last year
The food bank's base
Action Together volunteers have also been vital in supporting homeless people and others who have suffered with loneliness.
Rebecca said: “I take my hat off to the volunteers, they are a brilliant team.
“I was lucky enough to support them to co-ordinate the work.
“We are ‘team Oldham’, we pull together with all the different type of work we do.”
She is also delighted with being recognised for her hardworking efforts.
The former Crompton House School student added: “I am proud of the award. I went to school in Oldham so it is good to give something back to the town.
“I have worked most of my working life in Oldham in the same kind of social care work.
“My first job was working for Chadderton Total Care when I was 16.”
Rebecca Kershaw
Rebecca is also quick to praise her “supportive” employer Action Together for allowing her to balance her full-time job with helping the food bank.
Aside from her commitments in Oldham, Rebecca is a respite foster carer as well as being involved in many other community organisations such as Royton and Crompton Inner Wheel.
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