Woodcote Volunteers

OUR new booking system is now up and running and we wish to thank Woodcote Rally for its financial contribution to this.

For clients, there is no change — call us as usual to request a driver during our opening hours of 9.30am to 11am each weekday or by leaving a voicemail message.

The office team will enter the request on our booking system, which automatically sends an email to all drivers that same day, which is a much better system for both the office team and the drivers.

For office helpers there is no time-consuming phoning around and all drivers are notified of the jobs needed, not just those that are able to answer their phones between 9.30am and 11am. A huge thank-you to Tim and Dave for spending many hours working to get our new computerised booking system up and running.

Our clients can at times feel quite isolated and don’t get out as often as they would like.

To help address this, a team of volunteers put the idea of a monthly “tea party” to our clients. There was a very positive response.

Please note, this is for our clients only — those who have no means of transport and live in the catchment area.

We do need new volunteers to assist us with the running of this initiative and would appreciate any help you can provide, whether it is to provide a lift once a month, to help in the kitchen or just to sit with our clients to make them feel welcome and supported.

If you would like to get involved, please email info@woodcotevolunteers.
org.uk

This year’s annual meeting will be held on Wednesday (April 17) in the Pavilion Room at Woodcote village hall at 7pm. It is a public meeting, so anyone is welcome to attend.

If you are considering joining Woodcote Volunteers either as a driver, office helper or committee member, it is a good place to find out more. We are fortunate to have been offered a talk by a Goring and Woodcote medical practice manager who will update us on the latest developments at the
surgery.

Our wonderful treasurer and driver, Ken Ison, is stepping down after 18 years of service to us and the community. He certainly deserves some time off.

We will be welcoming his replacement, Richard Anderson, who is very kindly giving his time and expertise to support us in this key role.

There was an excellent turnout by our volunteers for a talk from the Alzheimer’s Society about dementia.

Everyone who attended is now a “dementia friend” who knows about dementia and the many different ways it can affect daily living.

They will be even better able to assist, support and understand those people with this disease, whether they be clients, family members or friends.

Everyone agreed it was a very well delivered, relevant and interesting presentation.

Our thanks to the Alzheimer’s Society which provided the speaker at no cost.

We are sorry to be saying goodbye to three of our long-standing volunteers — Chris Chant, who has been a driver and office helper for more than 20 years, Shirley Bryant, who has been with us in the same roles for 30 years, and Ken Ison, who has been driving for 22 years.

Their experience and wisdom will be greatly missed. Thank you so much for all you have done. If you are thinking about becoming one of our drivers or office helpers, we would love to hear from you.

Please go to our website (see below) to find out more about the various roles, joining and how to contact us.

If you need a driver, please don’t hesitate to call our office on (01491) 681171. We collect from Woodcote and the immediate surrounding villages. If you would struggle to pay a driver’s expenses, please mention this to our office team when you book as we may be able to help.

Please give us as much notice as possible before the date you need us. One of our friendly office workers will answer the phone between 9.30am and 11am on weekdays (excluding public holidays) and you can leave a message on the answerphone at other times.

For more information, visit www.woodcotevolunteers.
org.uk