John Lewis Exeter volunteers at Exeter Festival of South West Food and Drink

As part of its ongoing commitment to working with the local community Partners (staff) from John Lewis Exeter spent the weekend volunteering at this year’s Exeter Festival of South West Food. Working as ‘Festival Ambassadors’ over the three-day event, Partners from the shop fulfilled a variety of roles including site stewards, gate staff and hospitality.

From welcoming visitors as they entered the festival gates to serving drinks in the VIP lounge, Partners drew upon their expertise in customer service to ensure everyone had a brilliant day out. Thousands flocked to the festival across the weekend to watch celebrity chef demonstrations, take part in activities for families and stock-up on local produce.

Kate Connock, branch manager John Lewis Exeter, comments: “The Exeter Food and Drink Festival is one of Exeter’s premier events, so I’m delighted that our Partners could be part of it this year. Partners really enjoyed helping out at such a major event and being part of the fantastic festival atmosphere. At John Lewis, we pride ourselves on providing excellent customer service and Partners used these same skills developed at the Exeter shop since we opened last year to ensure visitors at the festival had a brilliant time.”

Ash Voralia, gifts selling assistant at John Lewis Exeter, who volunteered at the event, comments: “I really enjoyed working as a Festival Ambassador and helping to make this year’s festival the best one yet. It was such a great opportunity to be involved in such a huge event and to celebrate with everyone who was there. The festival really helps to bring the city of Exeter and the South West Community together, so I’m proud to have been part of it this year.”

Exeter Food Festival is the South West's ultimate foodie event, attracting more than 15,000 visitors who flock to discover world-class Westcountry produce and get inspiration from acclaimed chefs in the cookery theatre. The Festival also includes 3 consecutive Festival After Dark Party nights on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with live music, high quality regional food-to-go stalls, a huge choice of local ales and ciders plus the chance to see live chef demos.

John Lewis is committed to supporting the local communities in which it trades. Community Matters, which sees the retailer split a donation of £3,000 between three community groups every three months according to the proportion of customer votes they receive, will be a constant source of support.