TAKE FIVE: CLIFFORD PURVIS

Retired driver and community volunteer

Favourite song

I enjoy all genres of music. If I had to pick my favourite song, it would be Convoy by CW Mccall. Growing up, I spent a lot of time out on the roads so I can relate to many of Mccall’s truck driving country songs. Even though Convoy was released nearly five decades ago, I think it’s a song that has really stood the test of time.

Favourite book

Reading is one of my favourite pastimes and choosing my favourite book is almost impossible for me to do! I love expanding my knowledge, so I tend to read anything and everything – from newspapers to novels. I am a big car enthusiast, so my favourite topic to read is anything related to cars.

Favourite film

Similarly to my music genre of choice, my favourite film genre is a Western, so it’s probably no surprise when I say that I’m keen on most films that star John Wayne! I would say my favourite film has got to be The Quiet Man, directed by John Ford, starting John Wayne and Maureen O’hara. It’s a great rom-com and I love that it’s set in Ireland. Apart from the amazing Irish landscapes, the film really focuses on the bonds of community and family.

Favourite place

As mentioned previously, socialising and being a part of a community is important to me, now that I am retired. I am happy and content spending time around home and also enjoy a trip to the north coast, particularly Portrush. However, one of my favourite places to spend my time is at Fareshare NI where I volunteer as a warehouse operative three days a week. Fareshare is a project operated in Northern Ireland by charity organisation, Homeless Connect. At Fareshare NI we take good quality surplus food from right across the food industry and deliver it to over 170 frontline charities and community groups across Northern Ireland including school breakfast clubs, older people’s lunch clubs, homeless shelters, and community cafes. Every week we provide enough food to create almost 40,000 meals for vulnerable people.

Favourite food

I’m quite traditional when it comes to food. You can’t go wrong with a Sunday roast, and my roast of choice would be beef. However, I do enjoy a meal out or takeaway at the weekend. Usually I would go for a curry from a local Chinese takeaway. Clifford has been volunteering at Fareshare NI, a project operated by Homeless Connect for the last two years. He spends three days a week at the Mallusk warehouse helping to pack orders for community groups and charities across the country and to date has completed Food Safety & Hygiene Level 2 training, Manual Handling training Level 2, gained a forklift licence and last week completed equality, diversity, and Inclusion training. If you’re interested in volunteering, visit

fareshare.org.uk/volunteer/ or contact the Fareshare NI warehouse on 028 90332230