Dial-A-Ride manager retires after 27 years
A Scarborough woman is retiring from a community transport charity to look after her elderly parents.
Julie Banks, 61, is leaving DialA-Ride after 27 years working for the community transport charity.
Miss Banks is leaving the charity to help look after her elderly parents, who are 91 and 95 years old.
Her role for the charity began in 1995, as a part-time administrator alongside shifts at the hospital.
She said: “My dad was working for the Council for Voluntary Services, the old CVS, at what was Allatt House.
“He said ‘there’s a job coming up at Dial-A-Ride’, and I’ll be absolutely honest, I knew nothing about it but I wanted more hours.”
The charity was located at the former Allatt House, near Sainsbury’s, and had five minibuses.
Five years later, Miss Banks became its manager and she has held that position for 22 years.
“When the manager left in 2000, I honestly didn’t want the job because I didn’t want the responsibility but then I thought ‘well I’ve got quite a lot of experience and it’s probably going to be quite hard for someone new to come in who knew nothing about the job’.”
Miss Banks has fond memories of her early career at Dial-A-Ride.
She said: “It was very, very cramped, we were all squashed in what was an old garage and it was really quite impossible to work from there.
“The spare seats from the buses used to slot in and out, and we had absolutely nowhere to put them so everyone used to sit on them in a very cramped tearoom. The thing is, they were very upright and
narrow. They weren’t stable in any way so people used to perch on them, but it’s amazing what people are willing to put up with.”
Miss Banks will use the charity as a client now for her elderly mum and dad.
She said: ‘Dial-A-Ride and the people who work there and those who we help have been such a huge part of my life for the past 27 years. It is
difficult to imagine not being involved.
“It has been a real privilege to work with some truly caring, generous and amazing people – I have worked with over 600 volunteers and staff since I started. I will really miss the people who work here and the passengers, especially chatting to them on the phone and listening to their stories.”