Community Transport

Description

In short, we provide free transport to the vulnerable people of Clare to and from medical appointments across Ireland.

In knock on effect, we provide social inclusion opportunities by way of volunteering for old and some younger members of the community.

While we accept and ask that service users donate to help maintain our community services, upkeep of vehicles and our training centre, the service is offered free of charge. We do this by extensive, year round fundraising outside shops all day Fridays, Saturdays and some Sundays.

Our team are dedicated to ensure the safety and well-being of the community and have been trained to provide first aid response and psychological first aid on top of the driving and community support roles.

For our service users, we are a safety net, a friend, someone to listen, to share their news with. We are the family members who hold their hand after difficult appointments, the friends who care and encourage them to keep going.

We are the community support for people living on their own, or with their dog, or cats or chickens who don’t see another soul from one end of the year to another.

We are the assurance to these people that somebody out there cares about and for them. That they are not forgotten.

We are a lifeline to those who our healthcare system has failed to care for.

We are proud of what we do, we enjoy it, and our service is becoming more needed each and every year.

Our volunteers are mostly compromised of retirees, people who have had to stop working due to illness and injury. These people have found their new calling by giving back. They are not paid, they do as much as they can and they are supported by their own families to keep them going.

The impact of our project on our community and volunteers is beyond comprehension. While I have tried to put this into words, you would have to see it to believe it for they’re countless stories and testimonials of our service and it’s impact on our community.

Aim of Initiative

To reduce the economic, emotional and physical stress for vulnerable people trying to get to medical appointments across Ireland.

To provide opportunities for community members to get involved in projects where they are needed and can feel fulfilled in their role.

Who is it aimed at

People who struggle to get to medical appointments due to physical, mental or emotional illness and disabilities.

Our target audience are often elderly, those in wheelchairs, those who can’t physically use or get to public transport even though they may have a free transport card.

3 Steps critical to success

1. Purchase of and maintenance of training centre and community vehicles.

   The training centre is place where we can safely store our resources and vehicles. It is also where we hold meetings and trainings to plan and execute our activities and upskill new and existing volunteers.

2. Recruitment and support of volunteers which includes administrative tasks of treasurer activities, advertising opportunities in local media, providing additional support to volunteers and developing new flexible ways that people can volunteer with us on an adhoc basis instead of becoming fully fledged members.
3. Fundraising to ensure our projects are sustainable long term. We do this by sitting outside shops, running more engaging fundraisers throughout the year (for example; raffles, coffee mornings and quiz nights). These events also provide the opportunity to advertise our service to our local community where we can identify people who might need us or know someone who might need us and we can tell them about our services and give them our contact information for the future. They also provide opportunities for us to recruit new volunteers and members.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. Availability of volunteers.

   We struggle to find new volunteers who are willing to give up their time to help others without being paid. Those who do join our team always enjoy the experience but getting them in the door is the hardest part for us.

2. Administration activities take up a lot of time. Our treasurer James Lafferty is also our community transport officer and has been inundated with paperwork and calls from people looking for our service which is stressful and tiring for one man alone.
3. Funding for new vehicles and to improve our training centre.

   We will always be looking for ways we can improve our service and support systems for volunteers but the process of applying for grant applications is long which can delay much needed improvements to vehicles and our training centre in Ennis.

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. Improved physical, emotional and mental health of the people of Clare by virtue or getting them to medical appointments that might have been cancelled if not for us.
2. Improved social inclusion and training opportunities for volunteers of an aging population and young people who are looking for a career in NGOs.
3. Improved community support services across Ireland within other Irish Red Cross branches by becoming role models and pioneers in community transport, general support services and sustainable fundraising efforts.