Who We Are - Matt
Parcelforce delivery and collection manager, Matt Davies went out of his way to deliver vital protective equipment to frontline NHS workers in Llanelli. He also ensured the elderly customers on his street had enough food during lockdown.
Our Who We Are campaign celebrates our key workers - connecting communities, before and during the Covid-19 pandemic – and beyond as well. Over the coming months, we’ll be recognising people at the heart of our business, across the pipeline, as they describe who they are in their own words.
We want to receive nominations from around the Group for deserving colleagues to be recognised in this way. Send yours to groupcommunications@royalmail.com
Look out for coverage of Who We Are on RMtv, in Courier, your unit’s tv screens and, of course, here on myroyalmail.com.
‘When Covid-19 arrived, I was aware of shortages with food and PPE in the local area, so I started helping some of the elderly people in my street with their everyday essentials,’ said Matt. ‘They were very thankful, so I thought what else could I do? A friend of mine, Laura, is the deputy head at St John Lloyd School in Llanelli. She said that her team were making face masks for care homes, ambulance stations, hospitals and a number of NHS staff on the frontline.
‘After a few phone calls, I went to see how the operation was working and offered to help deliver the PPE myself as I knew they would be able to make far more masks if they spent more time making them and less time delivering them.
‘Together with a couple of other drivers from Llanelli depot, I helped deliver more than 1,500 face shields. Over the next few weeks, I became friends with the school staff and saw just how much effort and hard work they all put into helping the NHS. Laura was an absolute star and deserves a medal for everything she did to help ease the horrible situation we were in.
‘It was such a weird thing to see the look of appreciation on people’s faces when I was delivering the masks. I was shocked that people were cheering and the fact that they had run out of protective equipment as there was none available. These people were right on the frontline doing everything they could to help protect us.’
Matt started at Parcelforce in January 2006 as a delivery driver. ‘I covered a number of routes at the depot as a reserve driver until I got my own route a few years later,’ he said. ‘I then began working as a supervisor covering the Saturday operation. After I applied to be the transport depot responsible person (DRP), I became involved in covering the managers for their annual leave.
‘I then worked as a night shift supervisor until we moved into the new depot in 2005, when I was taken off the night shift and spent the next few months helping to convert the old City Link depot into the new Swansea unit. When the role of delivery and collection manager became available in 2015, I applied and that’s where I still am today.’
