Peter Hess - **HAS LEFT**

Said the following about Gavin Dicks:

“Having pursued a career as a chef from an early age, Gavin joined the railway family in September 2019 and has become well known across the route for his delicious food, as well as his friendly and approachable manner.

As a result of the Covid-19 restrictions in spring 2020, Gavin and many of his frontline colleagues were stood down from their day to day duties. Whilst it would be understandable to use this time for reflection and to take a breather, Gavin was one of the first colleagues to sign up to the LNER Reserves, our advice and support network of volunteers across our route, spanning London to the Scottish Highlands.

Through the LNER Reserves, Gavin became a regular volunteer at FareShare, a national food charity, offering his services several times a week. Gavin has clocked up hundreds of volunteering hours over the course of the pandemic, which FareShare has calculated has helped them to provide 11,372meals across the North East of England. His voluntary duties as a warehouse assistant have helped ensure vital care packages could be provided by the charity to those most in need throughout lockdown and beyond.

During his time at FareShare, Gavin has seen first-hand how surplus food can unnecessarily go to waste because, at times, there is a lack of understanding of how certain food products can be used. Gavin is therefore working on two new initiatives with the charity to specifically help to reduce waste and raise awareness. One involves Gavin giving a live culinary demonstration to those who’d like to gain confidence in the kitchen, and the second is looking to engage with schools around food waste and cooking skills.

In addition to his volunteering, Gavin realised that his colleagues were also facing a challenging time. Recognising the lack of social contact as having a negative impact, Gavin became a leading contributor to LNER’s virtual Community Cafes, an initiative setup to utilise Microsoft Teams to keep colleagues engaged throughout the lockdown period. Taking it one step further, Gavin set up and led virtual cooking classes for colleagues, inspiring people to get in the kitchen, share their own tips and engage in learning something new. The care Gavin took in planning these sessions, sharing recipes in advance so people could follow along at home and the many discussions he started on our internal Yammer site made a huge difference to his colleagues, and continues to this day.

Following the success of his cookery lessons, Gavin and a small group of his colleagues also started to think about how they could help raise money for LNER’s charity partner, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). Together they came up with the idea of creating LNER’s first cookbook, to share recipes from colleagues across the business and communities across our route that helped them get through lockdown. Gavin formed part of a working group and played a key role in pulling together over 140 recipes to create Cooking for CALM–the proceeds of which are donated to CALM.

As restrictions eased and Gavin returned to work, he remained an active member of the LNER Reserves and continues to fit in time at FareShare around his day to day duties. Through his efforts, Gavin has contributed to the lives of thousands of vulnerable people and families across the region and have received help when they needed it the most.

Gavin has shown a clear passion to support his local community by galvanising colleagues and volunteering at FareShare North East. His work and tireless commitment speak for themselves, and his positivity and dedication area lesson to us all.

Endorsement from Lara Sayers, Fundraiser and Communications Co-ordinator, FareShare North East“Gavin is one of the unsung heroes of the North East who through the pandemic gave time and energy to ensure that others were cared for, supported, and in our case, benefit from food provision support. I can personally say that his dedication and enthusiasm are commendable and inspirational. Gavin, with the support of LNER, has had a tremendous impact and has made a difference to many people's lives.“