Donald McLelland, Bowhouse Link Delivery Driver

Before working at Balcaskie I served for 15 years in the military followed by 22 years as a postie in the local area. At the beginning of last year family issues and covid proved a real struggle for me, this is when I left the post office and started, what I call, my mental health journey.

I went through therapy sessions to help with this and a few months later I got a phone call from Rosie, the Bowhouse manager, offering me a job as a delivery driver to get me back working and into the community. I gladly accepted this and now deliver for Bowhouse Link on a weekly basis.

I deliver fresh produce from Bowhouse to customers throughout Fife, from the Tay bridge down to Glenrothes and Strathmiglo, you can almost draw a line here and that shows where my patch is and where I deliver to.

I turn up at 12pm every Friday and meet up with Kat who’s my boss for the day and has been a great support through my journey, we talk through the deliveries and any issues or special instructions, basically a little team talk for that day, the A team!

I check the van oil levels, coolant and tyres every week before I set off. I also check over the look of the van. As I’m delivering fresh produce I think we should have a clean well-presented van, it’s all part of the service. That goes for me to, I always wear my uniform as I feel that a having a customer facing role you should be seen to be clean, tidy and look the part.

When I get to the customers, I always try to be cheery and have a bit of banter with them if their up for it, have a bit of a laugh and a giggle, making sure everyone receives a good service from Balcaskie and Bowhouse.

I enjoy the drive around fife, I have discovered some places that, even though I live locally and have been a postie, had still never heard of or been to before but are still so close to home. We do have a mapping system that shows where to go but I’m getting to know everywhere pretty well that most of the time I don’t need it but it’s handy to have.

If a customer isn’t in when I get to the door, I try to make sure the produce is safe and out of sight if possible and make sure that chilled products are kept insulated, I like to go the extra mile and put the effort in.

This job has really helped and given me a sense of purpose again. I feel I get what I need at Balcaskie, a connection to people both with the customers through our little chats at the door to the team at Bowhouse as well. It’s a family atmosphere to work in plus a well-run team!