Transport
We are not a taxi service - what we provide is quite different.
Our volunteers are friendly neighbours who remove the anxiety of getting to medical appointments. If you wish, they will escort you to reception and wait while you are seen before driving you home again. You don't need to worry about parking or appointments over-running.
Although most of our drives are to medical appointments, we can be flexible about any request that brings relief to a distressing situation. Everything is decided on merit.
The one thing we do have to be careful about is the area we cover. Our Client Catchment Area is Kings Langley, defined as all locations within the Kings Langley Parish or in WD4, except Chipperfield. If you need to know exactly which roads are covered, phone our helpline between 9am and 5pm. 07790 668672
Recently, a client needed to visit Mount Vernon Hospital for cancer treatment every weekday for two months. That would have taken all our resources but we were able to agree a plan in which we covered three days a week, while the client used buses on the other two days. It was a great help when Ariva started their 508 bus service, which goes all the way to Mount Vernon Hospital.
Another client needed regular three hour dialysis at St Albans Hospital. Hospital transport would have covered this, but because there are many patients to collect from a wide area, it can mean being ready by 7am and not returning home until the early evening. In this case we were able to cover the important outward journey, leaving the client to make his own way home by public transport.
Day centres are a boon for someone caring for a partner with dementia. Once a week we took a couple to a day centre in Hemel Hempstead where the carer spent much needed free time in retail therapy, a cafe or hair salon before they both returned home by bus.
With us, volunteer drivers only take consignments which fit their personal preferences and availability. A realistic milage allowance means they are never out of pocket.
Photo: BBC
Not all our drives are “one-off”
Sometimes a client is asked to attend hospital for a series of appointments. Physiotherapy, dialysis and chemotherapy are typical examples of treatments requiring a sequence of appointments . We usually set up a rota but this requires a large pool of volunteer drivers, so we are always keen to recruit more. Rotas allow volunteers to choose the most convenient date and time for them.
" I have not forgotten your kindness in taking me to Mount Vernon for cancer treatment. I think the pandemic has taught us all how much we need good neighbours." (A client)
“THE KNOWLEDGE” – Kings Langley version
A couple of years ago Jeremy Taylor retired from a busy and demanding job.
“Now’s my chance to choose how I spend my time”, he thought. His involvement with the Musical Theatre Company took him to the Village Market one Saturday and an encounter with Stephen Clarke alerted him to Good Neighbours’ need for volunteer drivers . Because he once had a period of ill-health when he needed lifts to appointments he happily applied to join the GN driving team and has been a regular driver ever since!
He says, “In the two years I have been part of Good Neighbours I have driven villagers to their medical appointments at a wide range of clinical facilities around S W Herts, and North London. I have found it a rewarding and fulfilling experience to help so many interesting people,,,, My understanding of Kings Langley and its environs has also improved and if there was a village equivalent of the London cab drivers Knowledge I’m sure I would pass!” Thank you, Jeremy! The KLGNA tel no is : 07790 668672, open 9.00 – 5.00 daily.
Where have we been this Summer?
These are the destinations we have taken clients to since May:
Abbots Langley Foot Clinic
Central Middx Hospital
Halo Hearing. High Street, Bovingdon
Harefield Hospital
Haverfield Surgery
Hemel Hempstead Hospital
Katherine Place Dentist
London Colney Medical Centre
Longmeadow Surgery, Bovingdon
Mount Vernon Hospital
Red House Dental Surgery
Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead
Specsavers, Hemel Hempstead
St Albans Civic Centre
The Nap Surgery
The Spire Hospital, Bushey
Total Balance clinic
Vine House
Watford Eye Clinic
Watford General Hospital
Volunteer Karen say's:
"It’s rewarding to help out and it’s lovely meeting new people. It’s fulfilling to know that by driving them to their appointments it lessens the burden on those that have family, and offers company to those that don’t."
How much does it cost?
We provide our services free of charge, although we appreciate a donation towards our running cost. These are typical donations that people make depending on theit ability to pay:
Destination
Kings Langley village £3.00
Apsley £5.00
Hemel Hempstead £8.00
Watford £10.00
St Albans £12.00
Mount. Vernon £15.00
Stoke Mandeville £25.00
Luton & Dunstable £25.00
London (north) £30.00
London (Central/South) £35.00