The car service once again visited Holy Trinity Church's Connections morning in November. The Claygate church provided an excellent opportunity for us to talk about the service we provide and to encourage new drivers to volunteer. We thank the church for the hospitality we were shown and look forward to visiting again.

In May this year several committee members attended a Connections session at Holy Trinity Church to talk about the car service and hand out our leaflets. It prompted several new clients to call and book drives so we plan to visit again. Connections is a regular meeting organised by the church for senior villagers.
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DONATIONS TO LOCAL CHARITIES
At our Annual General Meeting and summer social gathering on June 22 (pictured right), the car service confirmed that it would be making several donations to local causes. Because our divers do not claim the fuel and other expenses to which they are entitled for the drives they undertake, the service has accumulated excess funds, which the committee agreed should be shared between charities.

The first beneficiary was Joseph Clifton, who has Downs Syndrome, and was seeking sponsorship to help him compete in the Senior European Karate championships. We contributed £250. And from a long list of 10 further causes, the committee agreed to make donations of £500 to four of them: Cheer (Concern & Help for East Elmbridge Retired); Claygate Youth and Community Hub; Elmbridge Dementia Services; and Elmbridge Community Transport. The last two services combined to provide transport and tea for Alzheimer’s sufferers and their carers in July at a community centre in Thames Ditton, attended by about 70 people enjoying tea and dancing to a band. Two Elmbridge Community Transport mini buses ferried people to and from the venue.

A well-attended AGM took place at Claygate Tennis Club on June 13, with Pauline Parfitt in the chair, deputising for Judy Forster, our regular Chair. The existing committee was re-elected, the accounts were confirmed to be in order, some excellent points were raised from the floor, and attendees then enjoyed an excellent feast prepared by Liz Walker. Many thanks to Liz, to everyone who helped set up and put away - and to all who attended.   

Car service committee members and drivers made sure that all visitors to the Claygate "Get Involved Day" event at the village hall on Saturday April 23 learned about the valuable work we do. Many people approached the stand, took leaflets and left us contact details with a view possibly to becoming volunteer drivers. It was a busy, highly satisfying and enjoyable day. We thank everyone who took part.

We are delighted to receive a donation of £500 from the Claygate Parish Council towards the cost of a dedicated laptop and software for the Car Service. After 40 years of using pen and paper we are in the process of moving to a computerised system and this donation will help us to achieve that.

​Thank you Claygate Parish Council!

In 2018 we drove 89 people of whom 41 were new clients. Many of them used us multiple times. We drove a total of 457 journeys of which 105 were to hospitals. 10 volunteers left but we also recruited 10 new volunteers.

​We are always looking for new volunteers. If you are interested in joining our team, please see our Volunteering page here. 

... for including us in the Green Token scheme in October. The green tokens raised £330 for the car service. Thank you!