With thousands of volunteers and staff in Oxfam shops around the country, it’s no surprise that there are many multi-talented people working hard behind the scenes for us. And now, thanks to this blog, we can give some of these dedicated book lovers a chance to step out from behind the tills and the stock rooms, and take their turn in the spotlight. It’s time to introduce you to some Oxfam VIPs: Very Interesting People.
Meet… Vic Morrison
Vic Morrison is a driven man. In fact, he’s driven more than a quarter of a million miles around the UK in his role as a volunteer driver for Oxfam.
He’s has been hitting the roads for 11 years with Oxfam to clock up this amazing achievement. At least three times a week, Vic criss-crosses the country from his home near Leeds to pick up boxes of book donations from generous individuals and book publishers. Driving a box van, which can carry a tonne (or about 140 boxes of books), he transports books between Oxfam shops and Oxfam’s Book Barn in Huddersfield. His deliveries help Oxfam books product development manager Graham Draisey to set up brand-new bookshops.
It’s fitting that Vic is surrounded by books every day, as he is a gilder by trade – he used to gilt-edge books for nearly 18 years. You could say that he has the Midas touch. He’s dedicated to giving books new life, whether it was crafting beautiful gold edges on books then or picking up and collecting books to be sold at Oxfam shops now.
The hard-working driver came to Oxfam after poor health forced him to leave his job at a textile mill and retire. One day he heard on Radio Leeds that Oxfam were calling for volunteers. “Being at home waiting for an operation… I couldn’t cope with it. I needed something to occupy my mind. They wanted drivers, and they wanted sorters, and people to answer telephones and things like that. And I just thought I’d go down and see what it was all about. I think the first job was to drive a transit van to Manchester to take some recycling banks back to the depot.”
Soon after, Graham asked if Vic could lend him a hand. “The first thing I did for Graham was I emptied about 14 or 15 book banks in Leeds and York. And then he wants me to go further afield – Scotland, London…”
11 years later and Vic is still going strong, as is his friendship with Graham. “He worries about me – he rings me up often if I’m away for a long time. If I’m late home, he’s always ringing to say ‘Whereabouts are you, Vic, how are you doing?’. I’m well-looked after.”
He says being a volunteer driver “never ever gets boring, because I’m doing something worthwhile. I enjoy every minute of it”. So, what keeps him going? “It’s the open-air, driving, meeting people – I love to meet people”.
His role with Oxfam has even helped conquer one of his fears. “I always had a fear of going to London because I’d never driven there.” And now? It’s his favourite place to visit.
We’re inviting anyone who’s had the pleasure of meeting Vic on one of his visits to Oxfam shops to let us know of their memories in the comments.
If you’ve been inspired to volunteer your time at an Oxfam shop, head to our section on volunteering. And if you’d like to see one of the multi-talented people working behind the scenes at your local Oxfam shop profiled here, please mention it in the comments and we’ll see what we can do!
Tags: book donations, Oxfam VIPs, Oxfam volunteers, Oxfam's Book Barn
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vic Morrison is my dad…he is such a loving man who will do anything for anybody, all you have to do is ask. Since having to retire early due to his ‘life saving operation in 2000′ Oxfam has enabled him to keep his sanity, as my dad likes to be kept busy - he’s never been a lazy man!
My dad speaks about his trips with passion, where he has been, who he has met (including the miserable Ticket Wardens!)and enjoys meeting so many people, making friends in the process, on weekly shop visits.
It brings a tear to my eye that my dad has had such a positive inpact during his time at Oxfam, leading to this article which makes me very proud of him.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:21 amHi Jane, how lovely of you to leave a comment about our post on your dad! It is fantastic to have more insight into Vic and his passion and hard work for Oxfam.
It was my pleasure to meet your dad earlier this year at the Hay Festival and he immediately struck me as a people person - he was so warm and friendly, happy to help and very generous with his time when chatting.
I’m glad we could let everyone else know what wonderful work he’s done for Oxfam, and that we’re proud of him too and very thankful!
November 10th, 2009 at 3:35 pm