Going for Gold, with our Duke Of Edinburgh Volunteers
We always say it: Food Bank Aid would be nothing without its incredible army of volunteers.
From every age, to all walks of life, over 400 amazing supporters regularly pick, pack, sort, drive and deliver our vital supplies to food banks across North London.
Some younger volunteers, such as twin siblings Lauren and Sebastian, join us as part of their Duke of Edinburgh programme. We were thrilled to find out that not only are they keen to join our fight against food poverty, but that when not volunteering, they’re also representing Team GB this month at the International Junior Dance Festival at the prestigious Blackpool Tower Ballroom. We interviewed them at the Hub before they headed off to the Competition:
Food Bank Aid: Thanks for coming into the Hub today. Will you tell us a little about yourselves, please?
Lauren: “I’m Lauren, we’re both 14, but turning 15 this year. I’m Sebastian’s younger sister. He’s older than me by one minute – a whole minute and we dance together as a couple. I’m passionate about dance and I also love to watch movies”.
Sebastian: “I’m also turning 15 this year. We’re in Year 10.I love dancing, that’s my passion. I also like to watch football and Barcelona is my favourite team”.
Food Bank Aid: “What made you come and volunteer here and what do you think about it?”
Lauren: “Our Dad actually came across Food Bank Aid as we sometimes pass here to go to the cinema. There’s a volunteering section in the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award scheme, so we decided to give it a go. And we wanted to gain lots of experience. We thought it was an actual food bank, but when we found out, we just really enjoyed it. And I found it very satisfying.
Food Bank Aid: So tell me more about your dancing. At what at did you start?
Sebastian: “We started learning at around 5 or 6 years old. We normally train on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and occasionally on Sundays. And normally we have our competitions on the weekend. And we travel for around 2 hours to get to our studio in Penge to train.”
Lauren: “The training is really tiring, because we have to use lots of feet and muscles and sometimes we get to school and have back pain or blisters. But it’s all worth it because the training is for the competition and we get good results.”
Food Bank Aid: And you’re representing Team GB at Blackpool for the International Junior Dance Festival?
Lauren: “We do Latin and there are 5 dances: Cha Cha, Rumba, Samba, Paso and Jive. There are 4 couples from different countries and they’re the top couples in each country.
My favourite is Cha Cha and Samba.”
Sebastian: “I like Cha Cha and Jive too. Jive is the last dance and you could say the fastest because the music beats up very fast.”
Food Bank Aid: Well good luck from everyone here and we can’t wait to see how you do!
