As some of you know before working here at Best Food with Best Men I was a deputy manager at the nursery. I worked with children for years and completed a degree in Early Childhood Studies. I am also a qualified mental health first aider. In my career I worked with many little boys who struggled with expressing their emotions. I used to hear ‚don’t cry, you are a big boy’ and many other humiliating phrases on daily basis. From carers, families. And I never really understood how people who take care of these little humans can teach them to supress emotions from such a young age.

Therefore, today marks the day I would like to make a difference in this matter. But behind my intentions there is a beautiful story too. 

I would like to take this opportunity to show my gratitude towards my colleagues from Best Food in Banbury. I remember being terrified starting work here. From working with women dominated sector to the other end - working with men dominated company. Being here for a couple of months makes me realise every day more how wonderful it is to be surrounded by such a great bunch of hard-working, dedicated and caring men. You guys make my hard days brighter and my good days even better. You never fail to make me laugh and smile and you always hold out your hands to help when I struggle in this demanding warehouse environment. But it is not only about me. It is beautiful to watch from the side how willing you are to help each other on daily basis and all the close relationships and circles you create. 

So while you spend time together - talk to each other, not about each other. Maybe that person who is ‘the quiet one’ struggles with something and it does not cost anything to start a conversation with ‘how are you, any plans for the weekend?’ Maybe the one who seems to be wondering in the clouds somewhere is fighting an addiction? Why not sit with him on a break time and offer some food and chat? It takes courage to take these steps but I know how brave you all are. If you are not confident within yourself maybe you could encourage your friend to help you do this such a small gesture that could make a massive difference to someone’s day or even life.

Please be a team. A work family. Respect each other by just being kind. While we are all here this is our second home. We are here every day, spending most of our day with the same people. And it’s okay not to like someone just like you do not like this aunty Kate who is all the time judging others or that uncle George who is grumpy and never smiles. But at the end of the day, trust me, it feels awesome inside your heart to challenge yourself and take this extra tiny step to make someone’s day by simply noticing someone and just greeting them or saying thank you for something they do. 

So if you want to feel good with yourself do good for others. Good always comes back. This time is simple. You can stand with me and support MANUP? charity as a way of saying ‘thank you’ and ‘I support you’ to your colleagues and all men that are close to your heart and the ones needing support.

This year alongside my baking goodies I will be displaying a football money box here in the canteen for you to donate to MANUP? charity.

 Let’s see what we can achieve this year as a team!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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