Yet again, in the past twelve months, Westbury and District Link Scheme’s team of volunteer drivers and telephone co-ordinators has broken all records in providing a Good Neighbour Scheme for the Westbury community.
In the twelve months ending 31st July, the team drove 46,000 miles, the equivalent of twelve return journeys from Westbury to Moscow, taking local residents to doctors’ surgeries, hospitals and local shops. This is an increase of 25% on the previous year. Almost 2,500 tasks were completed, over 400 more than last year and there were only 22 occasions when a task could not be done because no driver was available.
The increases in Link’s work cover all the areas of its activities. Nearly 1,000 of the journeys were to hospitals and over 300 to doctors’ surgeries. There were 500 shopping trips, a figure that has built up gradually over the year rather than simply since the closure of Cooper’s supermarket.
The Westbury Link volunteers worked a total of 7,200 hours during the year. This represents an annual economic value to the Westbury community of £38,000.
Phil Jefferson, chairman of the scheme’s management committee commented, “We are delighted that we have been able to cope with everything we have been asked to do, despite the extra pressures on us caused by the recession and the temporary closure of Westbury’s main supermarket and Post Office. So many of our clients in the Westbury area continue to depend on us to get them to hospital and doctors’ appointments and to help them with their shopping. There is no doubt we are meeting a real need in the community, helping people to live independent lives.”
He paid tribute to Link’s clients who continue to make generous donations each time they use the service, despite the pressures on their budgets during the current financial downturn.
“These donations help to keep the service going. Without our clients’ generosity, and without the grants we receive from Wiltshire Council and Westbury Town Council and the donations from our friends in organisations such as the Lions and Rotary, we would not be able to provide a Good Neighbour service. We see this as proof that Westbury people greatly appreciate the service we provide.”
Phil Jefferson also acknowledged the contribution to the community given by Link’s volunteer drivers, telephone co-ordinators and management committee members, who have put in hundreds of extra hours’ work to keep up with the growing demand for the service.
“We are a great team, and we all thoroughly enjoy our voluntary work, meeting people from all walks of life and knowing that our clients value what we do for them. We have several new volunteer drivers joining the team at the moment but there’s always room for a few more and we do need extra help for people to answer our telephones at busy times.”
Link Annual
General Meeting
Anyone interested in becoming a Link volunteer in Westbury is invited to attend the Annual General Meeting, which takes place at Westbury Methodist Church at 7.30pm on Friday 25th September. The guest speaker will be Sandie Lewis, Wiltshire Council’s head of strategy for the voluntary and community sector, who will talk about how organisations such as Link can help to provide better lives in communities. Or, they can telephone the scheme’s helpline for details (01373 859669) on weekday mornings between 9.00am and 1.00pm.
