HOW YOU CAN HELP…
We are looking for volunteers to join our friendly team providing a vital service to our community. Age Concern provides transport to the elderly through our minibus and medical car services which are managed and operated by a team of volunteers. We need volunteers for the following jobs:
Minibus Drivers: to assist on regular weekly routes or one off day trips. Must be between aged 25 or over and hold a valid driving licence.
Medical Car Service Drivers: to transport individual clients to and from medical appointments using their own cars. Expenses will be paid.
Minibus Escorts: to assist with client safety getting on and off the bus, escorting clients to and from their front door, fastening seat belts and assisting in the use of the tail lift. Full training will be given.
Whether you can spare a few hours a week or just now and again, we would love to hear from you.
For further information, please call:
Age Concern Heathfield on 01435 866960
or email:
How we support our volunteers
At Age Concern we value the time and commitment of all of our volunteer drivers. We feel that it is important to show our appreciation, and several times a year we put on social events to enable our drivers to get together, meet each other and discuss any new ideas or concerns they may have.
It is also a good opportunity for us to provide small, informal training sessions to keep everyone up to date with any changes in policies and procedures and to ensure we all provide the highest standard of service to all our passengers.
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“Having been so grateful for the care provided to my father in his later years, and mindful of the huge benefits to older people of independence, company and a change of scene, I had no hesitation joining Age Concern’s team of minibus drivers. Our passengers are great – interesting, funny, and hugely appreciative.”
“Now that I am retired I felt it was important to invest some of my time in volunteering and supporting the community in which I live.”
My name is Mike,
I drive my car as a volunteer, for and on behalf of The Heathfield Branch of the Age Concern Charity, in what we call our Medical Car Service. A group of people who use our own cars to convey local Pensioners to and from Medical Appointments. We are all volunteers, therefore our time is given for free, but the petrol allowance insures we are never out of pocket financially.
I have been doing this for the last four years, I find there is a lot to be gained by being polite and friendly and chatting with the clients, they talk about their backgrounds, what they and their families have done and achieved in life from Professors building local castles, to ladies who drove racing cars. You tell them of your life and family, and by the end of a couple of journeys, they become not clients but friends. You get to feel that you are doing something worthwhile, helping others at a time of need.
In my own case doing this gives me a reason to get up each day, get washed and dressed and go out, driving my car, meeting and conversing with different people every day. I have never been a hobbies man, my family are all grown up and working, my wife died five years ago. I need something rewarding to do with the remainder of my life.
There is no pressure from the three ladies who take the calls and pass on the work to us. We are always asked if we are able, and what our availability is, so you do as much as you and your partner are comfortable with, so come along, try it and see.”