After volunteering her time for 5 years, Val Kendal has stepped down as Coordinator of Appleby’s Voluntary Car Scheme. Val is pictured with Councillor Pamela Davidson, Chair and Mayor of Appleby, thanking Val for her commitment and contribution to this invaluable local service.
The Voluntary Social Car Scheme is intended for people who have no other means of transport and provides a door-to-door service to collect people from their home and take them to their chosen destination at a reasonable cost. The service can be used for a wide variety of purposes including attending hospital, doctor and dentist appointments, making connections with public transport, doing the weekly shop and visiting friends. The scheme is run by Westmorland & Furness Council and is one of 17 schemes set up across the district. Appleby’s scheme is a busy and successful one, mainly due to Val’s dedication. Last year the scheme organised a total of 722 journeys for residents who would have otherwise struggled to get to an appointment.
The scheme cannot work without having a coordinator to match up the requests for lifts with the volunteer drivers. Following Val’s announcement that she was stepping down from this voluntary role, Appleby Council received a number of calls and visits from residents concerned that the scheme was going to go and asking what could be done about it. After careful consideration, Appleby Council agreed at their Council meeting held on Wednesday 22 October, to take on this role on a trial basis, to ensure the service continued.
The scheme relies on having a good pool of volunteer drivers and the Appleby scheme would benefit greatly from having more drivers. There’s no minimum time commitment and drivers can drive as often and regularly or as little and infrequently as they wish. Drivers provide transport for people using their own car, and are reimbursed fuel expenses based on a set amount per mile. You can advise your local coordinator of any days/times when you know that you will be unavailable. The local coordinator will call you with details of a journey and to see if you are available but if not, they will contact another driver.
For any enquiries regarding organising a lift under the scheme, or if you’d be interested in becoming a volunteer driver, please contact Appleby Town Council on 017683 51177 Ex 3 or pop into the Tourist Information Centre.
