People often ask how many calls we get each week. It varies a lot. There are some weeks when things are so quiet that the co-ordinator is reduced to ringing the phone to see if it is still working. There are other weeks when we are dealing with upwards of a dozen callers.
In the 12 months to the end of September 2024, we received a total of 395 requests for drives. This number is not up to pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, for example, we had almost 550 requests for the year.
So were we successful in translating these into bookings for actual drives? At first sight the figures do not look good. Those 395 requests turned into only 336 actual drives. But looking closer, cancellation was the main culprit. The NHS cancelling appointments accounted for the bulk of the difference, together with a smaller number of cancellations by clients who found they were not well enough to make the journey on the day. Requests that came at such short notice that it was impossible for us to act, and a few where callers were not eligible for our scheme made up a very small number. So, leaving all this on one side, we failed to find a driver just TWICE in the whole year. And on rare occasions like this, we do try to suggest alternatives.
With a driver team of around 20, are we looking for more drivers? Yes, we are. The numbers on the team for any one day can quickly shrink with illness and with holidays. Drivers also have other fixed commitments in the week, so the number potentially available for a particular drive can be much less than 20. And some of those, of course, will already have bookings. Volunteers do sometimes do two drives in one week, or several in quick succession. But it is their decision. They can always say no. One driver, for example, deliberately took on several drives recently just before going on a long holiday. We always try to avoid overloading drivers. But the more the volunteers we have, the more easily we can spread the drives fairly and ensure no one person is doing too much.
Please share information about the car scheme with anyone you know who might like to become a volunteer driver. There is no fixed commitment. We just ask you to read all the requests and just respond when you can.
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT USING THE CAR SCHEME OR BECOMING A CAR SCHEME DRIVER – GIVE US A CALL - O7469 764174.