Prestatyn Central Surgery Community League of Friends
“The Friends’ car scheme is marvellous, and volunteers work extremely hard on both providing the transport and raising funds for its continuation” – Beth Roberts, Practice Manager
Formed in 1997, the Prestatyn Central Surgery was Attend’s first surgery-based Friends group in Wales, providing transport and friendship to patients and their relatives.
Due to the Prestatyn Central Surgery being based in a rural location, patients without their own means of transport often find it difficult to attend hospital appointments. Consequently, the Friends established a transport scheme for patients and patient’s relatives – creating an efficient means for patients to get to and from various destinations. The services they provide range from a short journey to the local surgery to longer journeys to specialist services in Liverpool and Wrexham (this may be anything up to a 130 mile round trip).
The Friends run many fundraising efforts for their project. This includes coffee mornings, Christmas and Easter raffles, evenings for bingo and horse racing events. Fundraising means that the Friends can continue in their excellent scheme. In one six-month section, the volunteers transported patients over 30,000 miles.
Not only do patients appreciate the otherwise unattainable transport provided but also the friendships that Friends volunteers offer. A volunteer driver will often wait with the patient, offering moral support, and patients often request a driver whom they have come to know. Every service is individually tailored for the patient’s needs. For example, patients may often express isolation and need of help for other activities, such as grocery shopping. In response, volunteers may stop off at a supermarket with the patient on the way home.
This befriending element of the scheme has grown. Volunteers are initially seen as strangers; however they soon become a sounding-board, not just for health and transport problems, but for a whole variety of subjects too.
The success of the project has led the Friends to become Regional Winners for Wales in the Sapphire 2000 Awards.
Quotes
“In a rural area like ours, using the ambulance service can entail a long detour in uncomfortable circumstances on what would otherwise be a fairly short journey. When booking the service for the first time people often do not realise what the Friends scheme offers: not only transport but support and friendship.” — Beth Roberts, practice manager
“As the Transport Co-ordinator, all requests for assistance come to me and it has got so busy it has turned into a full time job! Volunteers can drive around 1600 miles in a month, sometimes going out three to four times a day: this is obviously a large commitment for volunteers.” — Wanda Zurawski, transport co-ordinator
“Car journeys can take anything from a few minutes to many hours, sometimes meaning leaving home at 6am! It’s not difficult work, just something that you would do for your Mum, Dad or next door neighbour.” — John Hibbetts, volunteer driver
Created 18th December 2012
The Prestatyn Central Surgery Community League of Friends benefits from Attend membership, which includes comprehensive charity insurance cover. For more information, or to join, please click here.
