New Horizons: A Retired Engineer Takes the Van Rota Online

I spent 35 years as an engineer, most of them at a drawing board and later with whatever software the company trained us on. When I retired I assumed my days of learning new tools were behind me. Then I started volunteering at our food bank in Manchester and was handed the van rota: a whiteboard, a biro on a string and a great many crossed-out names.

Emily suggested we move the rota online. I was sceptical. I'd seen enough "this will make everything easier" projects at work to know most of them make one thing easier and three things harder.

The learning curve

It was gentler than I expected. Setting up a private group for the drivers took an afternoon. Learning to post each week's runs as an event with a sign-up for every slot took a week, my grandson's patience and two phone calls I'd rather not repeat.

What actually changed

• Drivers swap shifts with each other in the group instead of ringing me at 7am.
• New volunteers can see who has driven which route and ask them directly.
• I post a photo of the loaded van every Saturday, and the thank-you comments keep people turning up.

We haven't missed a collection since March. The whiteboard is still on the wall, mind. Some habits are load-bearing.

If you're an older volunteer being nudged towards "the online thing", my advice is to ask for one task, learn that properly, and ignore the rest until you need it. And if you're the one doing the nudging, be patient with us. We got there with drawing boards, we'll get there with this too. :)