Tania Radeva – the lifeblood of the Farmhouse
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Tania Radeva, a catering professional, was not satisfied with self-improvement suggestions for the period of furlough. Instead, she applied her energy, enthusiasm and skills to the Bridgend Farmhouse COVID-19 Food Resilience Response Project. Tania developed the systems and managed the team who packaged and distributed up to and over 1000 meals per day around EH16 and EH17, two postcode areas of South East Edinburgh. |
“Now is the time to put yourself first. We are being given a once in a lifetime opportunity to rediscover ourselves. Use the downtime to rewind, think and discover yourself”. During the lockdown, articles advising people to take the opportunity to relax and reflect on themselves have flooded in. But luckily, this sort of guidance didn’t appeal to everybody. “I’m not the kind of person who can sit down in front of the TV all day. I get bored, I always need to do something”, says Tania Radeva, a 35 year old cafe manager with Saltire Hospitality Limited, a bespoke catering company in Edinburgh. As a matter of fact, only three days after her company had shut down, Tania was already working at Bridgend Farmhouse as a volunteer.
But how did that happen exactly? In a very simple way. Mid-March, just before the lockdown was announced, Eric Fernandez-Baca, the food support worker at Bridgend Farmhouse, whom she knew from Saltire Hospitality, contacted her.
“He had in mind this project of giving free meals to the vulnerable people in the neighbourhood during the lockdown. And he asked me if I could give him a hand.” She accepted immediately: “First of all, I had a lot of time on my hands since I got furloughed. And second, I knew that a lot of people would struggle. It was all over the news. Only in my building, there were two elderly families and they weren’t able to get out at all. That made me realise that some people wouldn’t be able to live a normal life anymore.”
Eric phoned Tania on a Thursday and the next Monday, the project kicked off. “The chefs were already on the spot. So, I just pitched in with my ideas on the packaging and delivering part. It was a team effort”.
In no time though, Tania became the manager of the packaging and delivery team, composed of 40 volunteers.
Even though she’s been working in hospitality for a long time, she admits that the whole exercise was somehow new to her. “I’ve never worked with volunteers and to supervise them requires a completely different approach. Eric taught me a lot about it. For example, the volunteers are giving their free time and thus we should always make them feel that we are grateful. And you also should try to teach them as much as possible. This latest part is important because this is one of Bridgend’s aim: to help volunteers learn and give them and kick start them in life”.
Since late March, Tania has spared no effort in the emergency food project, working five days a week. “I haven’t really felt the lockdown. I still don’t,” she laughs.
After six weeks of hard-work, Tania received good news from Bridgend: from mid-May, she was taken on as a freelancer at Bridgend Farmhouse. “The government said there was absolutely no problem for people who are furloughed to take up another job because, obviously, they have to make up their wage” she explains. The money was welcome even though Tania never got involved in Bridgend for this purpose: “I didn’t expect it all. It was very nice of them.” And for the future? Tania is busy passing on the systems and processes she has created to other volunteers, as she is due to return to work in late July.
But how did that happen exactly? In a very simple way. Mid-March, just before the lockdown was announced, Eric Fernandez-Baca, the food support worker at Bridgend Farmhouse, whom she knew from Saltire Hospitality, contacted her.
“He had in mind this project of giving free meals to the vulnerable people in the neighbourhood during the lockdown. And he asked me if I could give him a hand.” She accepted immediately: “First of all, I had a lot of time on my hands since I got furloughed. And second, I knew that a lot of people would struggle. It was all over the news. Only in my building, there were two elderly families and they weren’t able to get out at all. That made me realise that some people wouldn’t be able to live a normal life anymore.”
Eric phoned Tania on a Thursday and the next Monday, the project kicked off. “The chefs were already on the spot. So, I just pitched in with my ideas on the packaging and delivering part. It was a team effort”.
In no time though, Tania became the manager of the packaging and delivery team, composed of 40 volunteers.
Even though she’s been working in hospitality for a long time, she admits that the whole exercise was somehow new to her. “I’ve never worked with volunteers and to supervise them requires a completely different approach. Eric taught me a lot about it. For example, the volunteers are giving their free time and thus we should always make them feel that we are grateful. And you also should try to teach them as much as possible. This latest part is important because this is one of Bridgend’s aim: to help volunteers learn and give them and kick start them in life”.
Since late March, Tania has spared no effort in the emergency food project, working five days a week. “I haven’t really felt the lockdown. I still don’t,” she laughs.
After six weeks of hard-work, Tania received good news from Bridgend: from mid-May, she was taken on as a freelancer at Bridgend Farmhouse. “The government said there was absolutely no problem for people who are furloughed to take up another job because, obviously, they have to make up their wage” she explains. The money was welcome even though Tania never got involved in Bridgend for this purpose: “I didn’t expect it all. It was very nice of them.” And for the future? Tania is busy passing on the systems and processes she has created to other volunteers, as she is due to return to work in late July.
This article was written by Freelance journalist Lou-Eve Popper. You can see more of her work on her website here: www.louevepopper.com
