Tower and Town, March 2018

  (view the full edition)

A Day In The Life Of A LINK Coordinator

It’s 8.30am, and I switch on my laptop 30 minutes before LINK is technically ‘open for business’ to see what the day ahead holds and how juggling drivers is going to pan out. Although LINK is a “good neighbour” scheme, the bulk of what we do is taking clients to where they need to go, medical appointments, shopping, etc, if they would otherwise be unable to get there, e.g. the elderly, incapacitated or unable to use public transport. Having mentally assigned which driver I am going to try to match up with which job, I go to put a load of washing into the machine, and put the kettle on. This is the beauty of working from our own home as a volunteer, life around the house can continue as long as we have the phone with us. In the summertime I usually co-ordinate sitting in the garden. Often clients on the phone ask where the bird noise is coming from!

At 9am I turn the phone on and deal with any voicemail messages first. There may be new requests, cancellations or queries from drivers for that day. We now have a super duper state-of-the-art database which houses LINK’s day to day diary of appointments, which makes life very, very easy, so this needs updating first with those messages. Then it’s time to start phoning round to see which drivers are available and willing to drive the following day, and the database duly filled in. We work a day ahead, so that each day the co-ordinator is filling trips for the following day. This can take a couple of hours or all morning depending on the number of trips requested and the availability, and generosity, of our volunteers. It is an enjoyable task as I get to chat to, and catch up with, the drivers. We all soon get to know each other very well and it becomes like dealing with old friends.

Depending on how well I’ve got on in finding my drivers, I stop for lunch. We co-ordinators don’t technically have a lunch break, it needs to be fitted in when clients, hopefully, are having theirs and so the phone is quiet. Post lunchtime breather, it’s time to contact the clients for the following day to let them know who their driver will be and what time to expect them. As with the drivers, it’s nice to chat to clients, and if regulars, catch up with them. During the day the phone is also busy with clients making new requests for various trips.

At the end of the day, usually around 5pm, I transfer the phone to the following day’s co-ordinator and switch off my laptop. Time to put my feet up with a cuppa … or a glass of wine - depends on what kind of a day I’ve had! However the day has gone, it feels hugely rewarding and a job well done.

If you feel you would like to know more about volunteering for LINK, please contact Vicky Sullivan, tel. 01672 288007.

Sue Pells