Stacey Preston – From Wakefield warehouse to Buckingham Palace
Earlier this month, Stacey Preston, from our Wakefield site, was invited to attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, recognising her work supporting young people through The King’s Trust programme.
Stacey works in the despatch department for our Customer Moss, she’s responsible for checking and processing garments before they leave site, ensuring stock is accurate and ready to be delivered to over one hundred stores each week. “I am the last person to check them before they leave the Wakefield warehouse,” she explains. “It’s a great role and it keeps me really busy.”
Having been with Torque for almost six years, Stacey’s experience is grounded in operations but her route into supporting the programme comes from a different background.
Before joining Torque, she worked as a primary school teacher, specialising in Early Years education. “That role was about preparing children for what comes next,” she says. “Helping them build confidence, understand the world around them, and develop the skills they need to progress.” Those same principles now shape her role as a buddy on the King’s Trust programme.
Supporting the transition into work
Over the past year, Stacey has supported eight participants across two programme cohorts at the Wakefield site.
From the outset, her role is practical. When participants arrive, many are quiet, unsure, and often overwhelmed by the scale of the environment and what’s expected of them. “In the first few days, they’re working out the basics. Where they need to be, how to get there, how the environment works,” she explains. “They’re also learning the processes, the equipment, and the safety systems at the same time. It’s a lot.” Her role is to help bridge that gap.
That means being a consistent point of contact, helping participants settle into the working environment, and guiding them through the day-to-day realities of the job. “I help them get to grips with the processes, correct mistakes, and use those moments as learning opportunities,” she says. “But a big part of it is confidence. Helping them feel capable and recognise when they’re doing something well.”
Why the buddy role matters
For Stacey, the success of the programme is closely tied to the buddy system. “It makes a difference in so many ways,” she says. “It’s not just about teaching tasks, it’s giving people the time, support and encouragement to achieve things they might not otherwise have attempted.”
Without that structure, she believes participants would miss out on more than just training. “They’d miss out on the confidence and the belief that they can do it,” she adds.
The role has also changed how she works day-to-day. “It’s made me more aware of how important it is to support people, especially those who are new or dealing with challenges you can’t always see,” she says. “Taking the time to help someone early on can make a real difference.”
Recognition at Buckingham Palace
That impact was formally recognised with Stacey’s invitation to Buckingham Palace. “It’s hard to put into words what it meant,” she says. “It was something I never expected.”
For Stacey, the significance wasn’t just the setting, but what it represented. “I felt like the work we do here was recognised in the biggest way possible,” she says. “That meant a lot.”
During the day, she met a range of people connected to the Trust, from long-term volunteers to young people whose lives had been transformed by the programme. “One young person I spoke to had gone on to start their own business,” she says. “And I met a volunteer who had been supporting the Trust for over 40 years. It really shows the impact it has on both sides.”
A practical difference
“The biggest difference we make is helping young people develop the skills and confidence they need to take their next steps,” she says. “In the workplace and beyond.”
It’s a simple outcome but one built through consistent, day-to-day work. And while the invitation to Buckingham Palace marked a moment of recognition, it represents the same principle that underpins the programme itself: real work, real support, and real progression.
