MEET ABIGAIL WHITE, SOCIAL ENTERPRISE MANAGER AT MAILOUT, THE CAMDEN SOCIETY IN LONDON - OUR PARCELLY LOCATION OF THE MONTH!
May 'spring be in your steps' as we focus our March Location Spotlight on The Camden Society, a registered charity that has supported people with disabilities for the past 50 years! This ingenious Parcelly location has been a beloved business partner for over half a year now, and is making a significant contribution to our mission of reinventing urban logistics. We met up with Abi, the charming manager of the Camden Society warehouse operation, to learn more about her daily inspiration of working with a fantastic team, challenges she faces and of course the benefits of running our Parcelly warehousing service. With International Women’s Day just around the corner we thought this also a great opportunity to shine a light on a fabulous cause and a woman in business making a difference in their community.
Abi, working with you is a real pleasure and you operate all our PUDO requirements so beautifully! For how long have you been managing the Camden Society's warehouse operation and how did you come to this career path?
Well, I’ve been managing the Camden Society Mailout for about 2 years and 2 months now, but didn’t have any previous experience in logistics or anything related actually. My primary focus is working with adults that have learning disabilities. So when this job came up, managing the mailing and fulfilling project which also supports adults with learning disabilities, I thought it a great opportunity...
Can you tell us a bit more about your career specialised in supporting adults with learning disabilities?
Sure, I started volunteering at Mencap (a UK based charity in this field) one evening per week, running the sports group. It was alongside my full-time job and at some point, I realised that I actually preferred working with the charity. So, I quit my job and joined the team at The Camden Society instead!
That sounds like quite a bold decision, but it seems that you've never looked back... Can you tell us what the most inspirational part of your job is?
Foremost, seeing people progress. Our trainees, in most cases when joining us, don’t have any previous work experience at all. And by the time they leave, they are fully fledged and ready to go and start a new role. Seeing people move on and achieve - that is really nice...
We can fully imagine! At the same time, it must be a very demanding job. What do you find the most challenging in your role?
Well, our resources are limited because of the lack of funding we get. So, the most challenging is trying to make sure the people we support receive the best service within these limitations which can be hard.
We have been at The Camden Society during the Christmas Peak period, supervising our Aesop warehousing project and the whole vibe was always very jolly! What do you think makes the work atmosphere so warm here?
We really are like a little community for our trainees. For some of them, it is the only outlet they have, so coming here, gaining new skills and communicating with people means a lot to them. It also helps them to gear up with their mental health and capabilities. It is really heartwarming to see how our trainees celebrate each other’s achievements and support each other. For example, trainees that are more independent help those who have higher support needs. I really love it!
Could you explain a bit more how trainees get involved in the warehouse operations?
Basically, our trainees are doing all the picking and packing of pretty much everything that happens between 10am and 3.30pm. We have a morning meeting every day, going through which customer we are working on that day and what exactly needs to be done. And we always have our groups of four trainees supported by a member of staff to ensure the work gets completed on time.
As you are operating a professional warehouse operation here at The Camden Society, we are really interested in your opinion about running our Parcelly app and service...
It’s good and very easy to operate! Particularly for our trainees, as it is important that we stay up to date with using relevant technology. The system of using a mobile app to check out the items upon courier collection contributes greatly to their NVQ (National Vocational Qualifications). We want our trainees to be en par with other organizations, to make sure they will be able to find other jobs in the market. The Aesop project has been great so far, and we would be very happy to get involved in more projects with Parcelly. Because the more we do, the better for our trainees as they get as much experience as possible...
“What I like about Parcelly is its smart technology. It really helps our trainees to keep up to date and positively contribute to their employability in the future. They even came up with icons to signpost shelves which is such a lovey thing to include!”
Abigail White, Social Enterprise Manager at Mailout, The Camden Society
Location: 27a Greenwood Place, London, NW5 1LB, UK (///: glace.reef.global)
Opening Times: Monday-Sunday: 09:00 - 17:00
CONGRATULATIONS again to The Camden Society in London and a big THANK YOU for being such a great business partner and contributing towards Parcelly’s vision!
Parcelly aims to give business owners full control over their parcel flow, offering them the ability to modify the number of parcels they wish to receive, as well as the option to control the size of the parcels stored - all in real time via the app. This means that regardless of the storage capacity or nature of your business, we provide seamless integration across our services, and welcome you to join our network and benefit from new customers, additional footfall to your store as well as an additional revenue stream.
If your business is interested in joining our nationwide network and becoming a Parcelly location for Click&Collect, Key Exchange or Mini-Warehousing services, please do not hesitate to CONTACT US.
