CVS Rochdale wins Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

Christine Kenderdine says volunteer drivers like Keith Williams provide a lifeline

CVS Rochdale has won a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service for its Volunteer Driver Service and will collect the award at a special ceremony on 3 August at Gorton Monastery.

The service, which offers older people a low cost driver service to help them get out and about to medical appointments and social events, and is run by the Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) Rochdale and funded by Rochdale Council, was given the award by the Greater Manchester Lord Lieutenant’s Office, one of just 22 groups in the country to be awarded the accolade.

Around 600 residents currently use the Volunteer Driver Service and they are supported by 34 volunteer drivers and six office-based volunteers. As well as helping vulnerable members of the community, the service has also helped some of the drivers and administrative volunteers go onto paid work in a variety of roles such as transport, retail, management and the Civil Service, with some taking up employment with CVS Rochdale and the Stroke Association.

Christine Kenderdine, 73, from Middleton, credits the Volunteer Driver Service with giving her a new lease of life after her husband developed a serious illness.

Mrs Kenderdine, from Hollins, first started using the service when her husband, Alfred, who she was married to for 52 years, developed severe Parkinson’s Disease, which affected his eyesight and mobility and left him unable to drive.

She said: “My husband Alfred was falling a lot and was struggling to speak when the illness got very severe, so it was difficult to look after him. I started going to the Carers’ Resource for support and they mentioned the volunteer driver service. It’s been a lifeline for me because I felt trapped and isolated being at home all the time and felt really down.

"When Alfred was well, we’d be out and about every weekend, going to different places. We’d always been a very sociable couple. I’d lost the partner I knew but also the life I’d had with him. I have friends and family, but they have jobs and other commitments, so can’t always be available when I need them. This is the ideal solution.”

Mr Kenderdine died in September 2013, but Mrs Kenderdine has continued to use the service for a range of things, including regular visits to her sister in Chadderton, hospital appointments and trips to the Carers’ Resource.

She pays a small fee to cover the cost of petrol and other expenses, but it works out at around one third of the cost of using a taxi, and has the added bonus of a friendly face, with the volunteer drivers often picking up the same residents over a period of time.

Mrs Kenderdine added: “I’m almost blind, so when my main driver Keith takes me to appointments, like at the hospital, he will take me in and get me to the right room, rather than just dropping me at the door. A taxi driver just wouldn’t be able to do that and I wouldn’t feel comfortable if I didn’t know them. Having a driver you know really removes the anxiety and that’s important because it’s easy to lose confidence when you get older and stop going out, especially when your eyesight starts failing.”

Keith Williams, from Alkrington, has been a volunteer driver since February 2010. He regularly drives Christine around the borough.

He said: “I got involved in the scheme after I retired from work because I wanted to do something worthwhile. Taking vulnerable people around makes a big difference to them and sometimes you have to go above and beyond. There have been times when people I’ve been due to pick up haven’t answered the door because they’ve been ill, so we will raise the alarm and I’ll wait until ambulance arrives. In that sense it’s about providing that social network which protects vulnerable people and means they get support if they’re in trouble. I’ve met some really interesting characters and get on really well with the people I pick up.”

Councillor Iftikhar Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Adult Care at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “It’s great to see such a valuable local service gaining recognition in this way. It has clearly made a big difference to Christine and I’m sure it is having as positive an impact on the other hundreds of residents who use this service.”