In despair at problems in her area, mother-of-four Michelle Dornelly set up a food hub that has fed thousands – many of them refused by food banks. But the unpaid, full-time work takes a heavy toll
When Michelle Dornelly is hoisting heavy crates of food into and out of her van, she thinks about her building. When her shoulders ache at night and she spots new bruises on her legs, she thinks about her building. She thinks about her building when she contemplates her living room, which is so full of tins that her children long ago stopped using it to watch TV, instead sitting in their bedrooms.
Her building. A place where Dornelly could run the Hackney Community Food Hub, in east London, seven days a week. Where she could store the supplies she keeps in her living room. Where they could run workshops for families and take deliveries from their supermarket partners.
Working at the hub is full-on at the best of times – and particularly hectic around Christmas.
