Volunteer to support others in need of care

Using engaged volunteers from the community, the service is helping rural Victorians with limited transport options access the health care they need.

If you need help getting to your appointments or you’re looking for a way to help your community, build connections and learn new skills, this is perfect for you.

Volunteers are the driving force of the community transport team and they see first-hand how important the service is to their communities.

“There is a great need in our area for folk, and not all elderly folk, to be taken to health appointments,’’ Warracknabeal volunteer driver Alison Whelan said.

‘’At times people just don’t have family or friends available to take them to their appointments.’’

It helps clients access treatment locally without having to receive in-patient care just because they can’t drive themselves back and forth.

“I’m really rapt with the service. It took a lot of pressure off,” a client who was able to return home each night after his cancer treatment said.

‘’I’ve had daily oncology treatment for 12 days. You meet really nice people, really great volunteers.’’

It's not just about the satisfaction — volunteers know that community means there’s help available for them too, now or in the future.

Greg Laurie, a volunteer driver in Rochester, said the satisfaction of knowing that at the end of the day he was able to help someone was his main aim.

‘’In years to come, I’ll probably be looking for someone to help me in return,’’ he said.

‘’But I do get a lot of pleasure out of transporting our clients.’’

The experience is just as valuable to the volunteers as the help is to their passengers.

Community connections and the satisfaction of knowing she’s helping are big motivators for Kay Poynton from Lakes Entrance.

‘’Being a volunteer driver gives me the opportunity to be of service to those in the community who have a need,’’ she said.

‘’Meeting people in the community and engaging with them, some of whom may not have family support, is a very satisfying experience.”

Without volunteer drivers, the service couldn’t help communities the way it does.

"I just want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to support my community by way of driving for the Flying Doctors,’’ Numurkah volunteer driver Janet Stevens said.

‘’I seriously love this job.’’

For information, email communitytransport@rfdsvic.com.au or phone 7046 4664.

Flying Doctor Community Transport is funded until December 2024 by a generous grant from Western Victoria Primary Health Network, Murray Primary Health Network and Gippsland Primary Health Network.