Transport / Cars

From the beginning, assisting with transport has been a core activity for CHAIN.  This has been by:-

Arranging car transport to surgeries, hospitals etc.; a key job for the office staff.
Operating the ‘Handybus’ supplied by the local authority
and      
Making a ‘Chairman Vehicle’ available to wheelchair users.

Car  Transport.

Volunteers willing to use their cars has been key to this service and although from time to time it has been necessary to appeal for more drivers, it is safe to say that since CHAIN’s inception no request related to health needs has been refused.  Exactly how many people have been helped is difficult to assess, but taking figures of people and miles driven reported from time to time in annual reports, it is possible to arrive at  fairly reasonable figures as follows:-

Over 35 years

Journeys made:- Between 30 and 37 thousand.

Miles travelled:- Between 750 and  850 thousand.

The number of  individuals being driven, allowing for those using the service more than once:- Between 30 and 32 thousand

An  important statistic, one that also has had to be arrived at by taking figures reported, is the number of volunteer drivers.  _

No. of volunteer drivers:- In excess of 150.

The names of all drivers since 1977 are not available but see under Appendix, Office & Links.