Liphook Community Magazine Winter 2021

BRAMSHOTT & LIPHOOK
Voluntary Care
We are very fortunate in Liphook to have a remarkable service
that I feel many people may not know about. Bramshott & Liphook
Voluntary Care, which is a registered charity, will take you to any
medical appointment at doctors’ and dentists’ surgeries and at
hospitals, both local and further afield. It is, as it says on the tin,
voluntary and payment is not a requirement, although a voluntary
contribution is always very much appreciated. Such a contribution
would inevitably be cheaper than a taxi.
I wonder, though, if you know how this service came into being?
The exact date seems to be rather lost in the mists of time but is
thought to be in the early 1970s, when Jean and Eric Jackson
realised that there were older residents who needed support with
shopping and Eric would be seen cycling round the village doing
deliveries of everything from bread to cigarettes and from baked
beans to prescriptions. This “Man on the Bike” formed the basis
of Community Care, which started when Isobel Atkinson, along
with Charles Coyte, had a meeting with the head of Petersfield
Social Services to complain about the lack of services for the sick
and elderly in the Parish. They found this was due to lack of
funding and so a Care Group was set up in 1972, run by Jean
Jackson and Wendy Atkins. Jean received an MBE in 1995 for her
services to the community.
Thus Community Care came about by the hard work of wellknown
and what one might call “the usual suspects” of the village.
Somewhere in the mix there was a generous anonymous donation
which was shared out and allowed Bramshott & Liphook
Voluntary Care to come into being. I have not been able to find
out more about this donation, possibly because it was anonymous!
Several organisations were set up within this framework, including
Mrs Jean Jackson who helped to start Community Care and the Day
Centre. Jean was a Home Help for 23 years and also volunteered
for Age Concern and Meals on Wheels. Jean was presented with
the National Caring Award 1992 and an MBE 1995.
Holiday Fun, a Youth Club, a Lunch Club and transport by willing
volunteers, and this, in 1988, became Liphook Voluntary Care,
with charitable status.
Nowadays, Voluntary Care primarily provides transport for those
in need in the Parish of Bramshott and Liphook, taking them to
medical appointments as required. In the past it also ran a shopping
bus but as there is a lack of support since lockdown ended, this
service no longer operates. Sadly, the pandemic has had an effect
on almost everything, though there was a hard-core of around a
dozen drivers who took patients to hospitals and surgeries
throughout lockdown. The service works through a team of four
co-ordinators, who generally work on a weekly rotation and take
calls from clients who want transport. They then contact the
drivers to see who may be available. Latterly, due to the risks
involved in passing the co-ordinators’ records around, there
was a permanent co-ordinator, but life is returning to normal
and they now take it in turns. It’s a clever system whereby
the Voluntary Care telephone number is connected to the coordinator’s
phone. As a driver, you need to make a judgment call
as to how long it will take you to get to wherever you’re going
and often have to factor in the Liphook rush hour. Getting
through the village when the schools are coming and going can
cause quite a delay!
There are some statistics which you may find of interest: the
number of journeys undertaken by Voluntary Care in 2020 was
327, understandably, due to the pandemic, much reduced from
the 804 in 2019. Of these, almost half were visits to Guildford. In
the same year, Voluntary Care was of service to 94 different
people (down from 142 in 2019), 37 of them once and the others
on a regular basis. We are fortunate indeed to have this service in
the village.
Currently, Geoff Goldsack is the Chairman of Voluntary Care and
he has held that role for ten years, taking over from David Lush
who served for the previous ten years. Nigel Still is Treasurer and
he has also held this position for ten years. Amongst his other
Treasurer duties, Nigel reimburses mileage costs to the drivers at
the standard Government rate.
Do consider volunteering as a driver. Most are straightforward
visits to local surgeries and hospitals where you can wait in the
car park for your “patient” to come out. Visits are also made to
hospitals further afield and to other medical establishments. As
a benefit, you get a parking pass, but only for when you are
on duty.
Voluntary Care is always in need of more drivers, especially as a
number of the pre-covid drivers have now retired. If you are
interested in volunteering for a very rewarding job, and would
like to give something worthwhile back to the community,
please contact Voluntary Care on 01428 723972 for more
details. There is no obligation to take any date offered and you
just might get to meet some very interesting people as you
transport them to their appointments.
My thanks to the Heritage Centre, Geoff Goldsack, David Lush,
Audrey Meckiffe and Bob Hall for their assistance.
Wendy Moore
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