WESTBURY & District Link recently celebrated 25 years of providing transport for elderly people, at a celebration at their monthly coffee morning at the West End Baptist Church on Thursday 4th August. Members, volunteer drivers, and ex-chairs of the Link scheme all came together to celebrate and to speak about how it benefits both the people who rely on the service and the drivers who volunteer. They were joined by the mayor, cllr Sheila Kimmins, who cut an anniversary cake.
The local Link scheme is a volunteer-run service which provides transport for people that do not have access to a car, often helping elderly people get to appointments. Most of the trips are for medical reasons with Link helping because of the difficulty or expense of travelling. 30 volunteers help provide a service for more than 200 currently-registered clients in Westbury, Dilton Marsh, Chapmanslade, Heywood and Hawkeridge. The charity provides the service in return for a donation to Link, to cover its costs.
Speaking to the White Horse News about the event, the chair of Westbury & District Link, Paul Howard said, “It was a great day, where Link members and users past and present all came together to celebrate this wonderful volunteer community service. One of the clients took the time to give a talk about how valuable Link was to her and how much she appreciated the service, which was lovely to hear.
“We were also joined by the original members of Link who explained how the service came about all those years ago and the mayor, Sheila Kimmins, spoke about how the need for this service will grow over time and that more should be done to help it.
“We also spoke about how Link changed from being a transport service, to a companion service for both drivers and passengers – many of the people who need lifts are unable to get out all day and the majority of volunteers are retired and have lots of free time, so it’s a great partnership.
“We get positive individual feedback all the time, and passengers are constantly trying to tip us, but we always decline, but it just goes to show their appreciation. A big thank you to everyone for coming on the day, and a big thank you to our volunteers whom we would be nothing without.”
Volunteer with Link
Link says they are often asked to go further afield such as Corsham and Shepton Mallet, but they cannot do so until they have more volunteers. If you have a car and you have a few hours to spare each week, then please contact the coordinator on 01373 859 669. A fuel mileage allowance is available.
Link always welcomes new volunteers who want to share the experience. Find out more by visiting its website: www. westburyanddistrictlinkscheme.co.uk/
History of Link
The Link scheme was first set up in Wiltshire in 1979 by a young doctor, Dr John McQuity, working in Box, Colerne and Rudloe. Dr McQuity realised that some of his patients needed help getting to and from appointments and so contacted some of his friends to help.
He realised this could be expanded and asked a friend to be the first coordinator. When Dr McQuity died suddenly before the scheme became a reality, his friend formalised his pilot scheme as Box, Colerne and Rudloe Link. Since then, 45 schemes have been launched throughout the county.
The Westbury & District Link scheme was first set up by the Westbury Baptist Church 25 years ago and was not affiliated originally, but has since joined the Wiltshire-wide organisation.
Over those 25 years, Link drivers have made approximately 25,000 trips, travelling 500,000 miles to transport clients to hospitals including Bath and Salisbury, as well as doctors’ surgeries, dentists, and opticians.
