Date published: 24 May 2022 by Digital Team

Retiree John West, from Epsom has been a volunteer driver for Rainbow Trust since summer 2018.

I'm 76 years old and  married with 2 grown up daughters. I was a policeman for 30 years and when I retired in 1998, I worked part time at the RAC in Epsom. When I retired from there, I luckily saw an advert in the magazine for retired police officers, asking for volunteer drivers for the Rainbow Trust. That was in 2018. I have always enjoyed driving, so I got in touch.

I have helped the family support workers by taking families to various hospitals, or bringing them home. I've thoroughly enjoyed doing this over the years and it's good to know how helpful this is for the parents, who have enough to worry about, without having to drive to London and trying to find somewhere to park their car !

It's been a most rewarding thing to have been involved in and I wish everyone at the Trust all the best in the years to come.

John is now calling on others to consider joining him and volunteer to help families with a life-threatened or terminally ill child.

John says:

“I feel so fortunate to have seen a piece in the retired police officer’s magazine at the end of 2017 asking for volunteers at Rainbow Trust. I applied, and after completing the initial paperwork, started supporting them in June 2018.

“My role was to collect families and take them either to or from their appointments at hospitals and hospices. It sounds so simple, but I have found that you can't underestimate the importance of removing traffic and parking worries from a family already under enormous stress. Sometimes I park and wait for them so I can drive them home, other times their Family Support Worker may do one leg of the trip.”

John says:

“I would encourage anyone with some spare time to consider volunteering for Rainbow Trust. I find that by helping parents who have a seriously ill child, even if it’s taking care of mundane matters such as hospital parking, is extremely worthwhile and very much appreciated by the families. Sometimes the simple act of giving some of your spare time can be extremely valuable to those in need, in fact the support provided by the charity to families is immeasurable.”