A voluntary scheme offering transport for the disadvantaged, elderly and infirm.

The Volunteers:

Transport co-ordinators

Our transport co-ordinators are the front line of the operation, working from home they take requests for transport from our clients and then find someone from our list of drivers to take the client to their destination, be it a hospital appointment in Salisbury, a visit to the surgery, a trip to the local shops or to a meeting of a social group.
Working on a weekly rota ensures the job is not too onerous and, as an answering machine is provided, they are not tied to the house during their duty period.



Drivers

The larger number of our volunteers are our drivers, they turn out whatever the weather to ensure our clients reach their destination comfortably, safely and on time.
When they sign up they receive an information booklet giving details of mileage allowances, location of special parking areas at hospitals etc. and other instructions.

The Clients:

Our clients are many and varied; from Mrs A, a lady of over 100, who goes from a local residential home to the village hall once a month, to join the other players for a game of Scrabble, to little Master Z who is accompanied by his Mum to his hospital appointments at a hospital some twenty miles away.
Journeys tend to be medical based, for instance in the Autumn we are kept busy ferrying people to and from the local surgery for their 'flu jabs but we regularly bring people from the outlying villages to the local shops as well as providing transport to the meetings of local societies.
Whatever a clients need we will try to fulfill it, but prospective clients must remember: we are not a taxi service; plenty of notice is required (at least 24 hours if possible) and as we are a charity we will ask for donations from our clients, indeed for longer journeys a fixed tariff of 40p/mile is requested. On some occasions we will not be able to provide a driver and regular journeys can only be countenanced on very special occasions.

Sponsors and Links:

Of course the contributions made by our clients are vital to the running of the scheme but by far the largest sponsor is the Mere Literary Festival run every October in the town. Past guests have included the author Louis de Berniéres who played the mandolin (and other instruments) and recited some of his favourite pieces of poetry whilst being ably accompanied by Ilone Antonius-Jones, the composer Sir Harrison Birtwhistle and the poet Robin Glaser who discussed their opera 'The Last Supper' and the author Colin Dexter who talked about the thriller and writing the Inspector Morse stories.


Mere Linkscheme comes under the umbrella of Community First which draws together many of the charities and schemes that help support the community in Wiltshire.