Golden milestone for neighbourly Crowthorne scheme

A NEIGHBOURLY volunteer scheme reaches a golden milestone this year.

Crowthorne Good Neighbours is celebrating 50 years of helping people who cannot drive to attend medical appointments.

Members of the organisation from the past five decades will gather at the Baptist Church on High Street on the afternoon of Saturday, April 2.

Sue Hester is the current coordinator for the scheme, a role she has held for the last 17 years.

“We still operate using pen and paper and we are still true to our original brief of helping people to get to medical appointments,” Ms Hester said.

“We take people to Frimley Park Hospital, the Royal Berks, even out to Wexham Park in Slough.

“For some of our passengers, even getting to our Crowthorne GP surgeries can be a problem.

“And we’re not just for older residents — we will help anybody over 18 years old who needs a lift.”

Crowthorne Good Neighbours operates out of an office in the Baptist Church, where a volunteer on duty will collate requests for help and contact drivers to see if they are available. Drivers will collect their passenger, wait while they are at their appointment, and return them home again. Mileage is paid and those helped are asked to contribute a donation if they can.

Ms Hester said that the “people of Crowthorne are very generous” and combined with stalls at the village carnival and flower festival, the scheme is able to cover its costs.

“But right now we need more drivers,” Ms Hester added.

“Requests for help are going up to pre-covid levels and the more volunteers we have, the better neighbours we can be.”

Those interested in becoming a volunteer driver can call: 01344 761 001. A message can be left outside of office hours: weekdays, 10am-noon.