Volunteering
Why join Lymington Care Group?
Joining a voluntary driving charity is personally rewarding and satisfying. Each trip is so much more than a car journey. You learn so much about other people in the area. Clients are always so grateful. In return, they may offer fascinating anecdotes of their childhood or perhaps their family life.
“On recent voluntary journeys I can recount a lady from Pilley remembering the horse and cart taking the family to Lymington. Another lady still lived in the house she was born in 93 years ago, while a gentleman told me of his childhood near Beaulieu Airfield just before D-Day.”Volunteer Driver Ray
“Thank you all so much for all your hard work and dedication to people like me. We really don't deserve you - you do such wonderful work for nothing. Thank you, thank you and I really mean that.”Client Mrs B
“Thank you for the fabulous service that you provide and thank you to all your wonderful drivers to enable vulnerable and older people to get to medical appointments, - the service you provide is amazing”Sister of client Mrs D
How could I volunteer?
We have no paid staff. Our drivers and coordinators give up their time voluntarily to provide and run our service to support less fortunate members of our community. We welcome offers to join us, whether as a driver or as a coordinator. Some of our volunteers do both!
We currently have around 20 volunteer drivers and 3 volunteer duty coordinators serving the population of Lymington & Pennington. Our aim is to support local residents remaining independent by providing a transport service to medical appointments. Sadly we regularly have to turn down requests when we can't find an available volunteer driver.
If you enjoy driving and helping others, being a volunteer driver could be just right for you. There is no pressure to do more than you feel happy to do. Some drivers prefer to do longer journeys to hospital in Southampton and Bournemouth, whilst others only drive in the local Lymington area. Drivers are reimbursed for their mileage using a government-recommended rate, but your time is given freely. Normal car insurance premiums are not affected by voluntary driving.
Our Duty Coordinators are volunteers whose job is to match requests for transport with available drivers. You just need access to email and to be able to cover a Monday-Friday week approximately once a month.
Further information is given on our Volunteer Driver and Volunteer Duty Coordinator pages. If you would like to talk to a member of the committee please leave a message on the Care Group's answering service at 01590 679187 or use the form on our Contact page.