Harpenden Helping Hand
Harpenden Helping Hand is always on the look out for more drivers and shoppers. The time commitment is as much or little as you want but as you can see from the stories below, the work is interesting and often enjoyable and rewarding. Clients often say “I don’t know what I’d do without Harpenden Helping Hand” so you would be joining a band of Volunteers making a huge difference to people’s lives. As a driver you can offer to do as many journeys as you wish at times that are convenient for you and there is no obligation to say ‘yes’ when asked by one of our transport organisers. As a shopper you can opt to shop occasionally or on a more regular basis but always to fit in with your own life Many of our volunteers start just after retirement, when they are looking for interesting and useful things to do, but experienced drivers and shoppers of all ages are most welcome.
Aileen
Aileen has been driving for Helping Hand since 2007, the year she retired from being the librarian at a Luton secondary school. She says she was looking for something useful to do as a volunteer, when someone gave her an HHH leaflet at the farmers market. Five years later, as well as continuing with the driving, Aileen also agreed to join the team of transport organisers. This is one of HHH’s vital jobs, being on call to receive 20 to 30 calls a week both directly from clients and from carers and staff at doctors’ surgeries who have people needing lifts. Whoever is on duty for the week then has to ring round potential drivers until someone available is found.
Most of her trips are to medical facilities and some of her clients are quite frail and forgetful at times. Drivers have to be resourceful in clarifying exactly what some clients need to do. One lady said she was going to the hospital for a pre-op when in fact it was for a Covid test. Clients also don’t always tell you beforehand that they need to take a wheelchair with them or even to have a carer accompany them. So be prepared to be flexible.
But it’s most rewarding work. Clients are always so grateful and often very interesting. Many conversations are fascinating, particularly with people who have been in Harpenden all their lives, often dating back to the 1930s. One of Aileen’s clients was writing his memoirs, including memories of wartime. Another had worked at the same college as her and, in spite of suffering from dementia, they were able to exchange stories of old colleagues remembered.
Gordon
Now in his early 70s, Gordon has been driving for HHH for ten years. In 2012 a card came through the door asking for volunteer drivers. Gordon likes helping people. He also likes fixing things, for instance he’s a good car mechanic and has often helped repair neighbours’ cars at a fraction of the cost of taking them into a garage. He likes driving, he likes to give his BMW a good run, so the opportunity to help people get to hospitals around the county and beyond presented an opportunity to do something really worthwhile in his retirement. As well as regular trips to Watford and Luton hospitals he has also driven clients to Mount Vernon, Harefield, Stevenage and Bedford. He does about 6 trips a month, covering about 2,500 miles for Helping Hand each year.
The work calls for initiative. Gordon emphasises how important it is to phone your client beforehand to check on the exact address, timing, mobility, use of wheelchairs, etc. Sometimes clients need more help than they care to admit. For instance, needing to find them a wheelchair on arrival at a hospital with the prospect of a long walk or knowing when they haven’t done up their seat belt properly when they said they had. Driving urgent cases to hospital during Covid presented problems; passengers had to sit in the back seat and the windows were left open.
Gordon has wonderful conversations with his clients, some of whom are regular ones, and he enjoys hearing people’s life stories. He often ‘goes the extra mile’ by adding a quick trip to the shops on the way back. Gordon says he gets real pleasure from how grateful his passengers are. One client recently said to him ‘I don’t know what I’d do without Helping Hand’. It makes him feel good about himself.
Derek
Derek is a motorbike enthusiast. His favourite destination is France, although it was on a German motorway that he achieved his top speed of 160 mph. Driving for HHH is done at a much more modest speed! He’s a chartered engineer and does his own car and bike servicing. Naturally obliging, he has helped HHH clients in addition to driving and shopping by, for instance, fixing and tuning a new TV, changing light bulbs, looking for lost keys, putting out recycling, etc.
Derek joined HHH three years ago just after he retired permanently. He approached our stall at the Seniors’ fair at the public halls and immediately thought ‘this is something useful I can do in my retirement’. He does a weekly grocery shop for a lady and has been happy to assist her in other ways.
He also drives clients to all the usual hospitals and local surgeries and to a wide range of specialist clinics, about two times every three weeks. Once, when picking someone up a to go to the Watford General Hospital, a cat followed his client into the car. Derek removed the cat but while putting a walking frame into the back the cat jumped in again without him noticing. When he discovered the cat it was too late to go back so he had to keep the cat amused while waiting near the hospital for an hour or so for his client to finish her consultation. On another occasion he discovered that he had committed to a trip when his car was in for its MOT and so had to use his wife’s small sports car. His client was a 6ft 3in, elderly man and the only way in was to take the roof down. On their way back his client was enjoying the ride so much he asked to go for a spin and so they did along all the local lanes.
Motivated by simply wanting to be part of the local community and helping out, Derek gets enormous pride and satisfaction from the gratitude of his clients. He likes that HHH is a local Harpenden charity, helping local people to go to local medical facilities and using local shops. As a parting shot, when I met him, he jested ‘I’ve got a spare helmet if anyone would like a ride on the back of my bike!’
