Volunteers are the life blood of the charity
Volunteers
The charity relies on a dedicated team of volunteers to provide the service. Some drivers carry out a few trips a month, others are on the road most days of the week. The amount of time drivers commit is up to them. Over the past 5 years we have helped almost 4000 children, undertaken 32,000 trips and driven over 500,000 miles.
If you can spare a few hours a week, have a caring attitude and your own car we’d love to hear from you. Give us a call or an email or complete the online application form
Potential new drivers are DBS checked, will have an informal interview, an accompanied drive and also a ‘buddy’ trip with a fellow volunteer driver to learn more about the role. Child car seats and mileage expenses will be provided.
What’s it like being a volunteer
‘I volunteer for the charity having taken early retirement from my job in finance. At that time I felt the need to do something useful with my spare time and saw an advert in the MEN for a volunteer driver taking children to hospital appointments. I find the role gives me some personal satisfaction in being of assistance to the families. The help and consideration given from the office staff is most useful and I am never put under pressure to accept a trip"
Trevor Crookell – Volunteer Driver
Being able to help families that would otherwise struggle to get to their vital medical appointments is very rewarding. Also meeting a broad range of children with a wide variety of complex medical issues (many of which I had never heard of) often makes a trip different in some way. I enjoy getting to know families from various backgrounds and countries, the majority of whom cope amazingly well in sometimes very difficult circumstances’
Stuart Wilson – Volunteer Driver
I’ve done volunteer work for a number of years for various organisations but this is really the volunteer role for me. I love the driving and really enjoy taking the families, a lot seem to feel at ease with me and tell me about their family. I feel part of a team, not on my own as everyone is so friendly and helpful particularly the team in the office where the support is amazing. Its so satisfying being a volunteer and I can actually say I’ve enjoyed every trip so far!
Beryl Richmond – Volunteer Driver