{"id":678,"date":"2025-05-23T13:33:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T12:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theoptimistmagazine.co.uk\/?p=678"},"modified":"2025-06-06T16:26:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T15:26:02","slug":"voluntary-driving-changes-lives-of-hospice-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/theoptimist\/2025\/05\/23\/voluntary-driving-changes-lives-of-hospice-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"Combatting loneliness- How driving can change a life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A simple drive, a quick pub lunch, a trip to the seaside. To most, an everyday occurrence, nothing of note, a mundane day out. But to hospice patients, these are life-changing events, bringing joy and excitement to their final days.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every week, across the UK, ordinary people give up a few hours of their time to do something extraordinary, driving some of our most vulnerable neighbours to a few hours of daylight, fresh air and companionship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a simple act, but for hospice patients facing terminal illness, those drives can mean the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volunteer drivers become much more than chauffeurs to these patients: they become lifelines, companions, and tiny sparks of joy in a challenging season of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ged Callaghan is one of these unsung heroes, sacrificing his time each week for the benefit of others, and through this, has made long-lasting friendships and memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Voluntary driver Ged Callaghan <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was always going to do some volunteering once I had retired,\u201d Ged, who is 66 himself, tells Optimist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was inspired by a programme I saw maybe 11 or 12 years ago. It was about a father and a daughter, who sadly had cancer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The father couldn\u2019t drive and so in order to visit his daughter in hospital, he had to get two buses across London, which was expensive, stressful and tiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhilst watching I just kept thinking, \u2018I want to help people in that position,\u2019 and so that\u2019s how I got involved with the hospice.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ged has been volunteering at St. Teresa\u2019s Hospice in Darlington <\/a>for over 10 years, starting by driving patients to a day care clinic in the morning and then picking them up in the afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was also trained to operate a satellite hospice van, which was for people with mobility issues, in a specially adapted vehicle that could accommodate a wheelchair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, both the satellite hospices’ were shut down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter the vans service was stopped, the hospice set up an initiative called \u2018volunteer visit\u2019 where you go and visit someone in the hospice each week,\u201d Ged shares with Optimist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re enjoying reading this article, why not check out this article about<\/em>\u00a0Men\u2019s Shed group building bonds here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was always something new because different people wanted to do different things. It\u2019s where I met some of my favourite people, like Bert Terry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was terminally ill, and in a home because his wife Muriel couldn\u2019t cope with looking after him by herself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I used to visit him at the home, but I knew he liked to go out in the car, so one day I suggested we go on a run out somewhere.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ged would drive Bert to the local beaches like Marske, where Bert was from, park on the seafront and just watch the boats on the sea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He tells Optimist: \u201cWhat I was doing was nothing at all, I was picking him up, driving 15 miles to the seaside, sitting there for half an hour and then taking him home again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe commitment was fairly low and it was minimal physical effort, but the difference it made to his life was immeasurable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOtherwise he would have just been sitting in that home, looking at the four proverbial walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the difference volunteering can make.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, Bert passed away five years ago, but Ged still keeps in contact with Bert\u2019s wife Muriel, and goes round for a cup of tea every Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ged jokes: \u201cMuriel is my number one fan, she could talk the hind leg off a donkey to everyone she meets about me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe always tells me that I improved Bert\u2019s end of life and that even though he was terminally ill, and had been for four or five years, he looked forward to going every week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Bert passed, Ged was matched with another hospice patient, John, who he visited weekly for a further seven years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe would go out on a Friday morning, I only had two hours, so I had to get creative,\u201d Ged tells Optimist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would drive him out to the countryside where we would inevitably end up at a pub, as John liked to have a sandwich for his lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt then became a bit of a mission to take him to a different pub each week, once we hit 30 or 40, we made it our target to reach 100.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair hit their goal last year, and in total visited 111 pubs together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe had family, but didn\u2019t see much of them, so he said he always looked forward to seeing me,\u201d Ged says with a sad smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs we were driving home every week he used to say without fail, \u2018Ged what can I do for you in return for all you\u2019ve done for me?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd all I would say to him is \u2018John, as long as you keep enjoying it, that\u2019s all I\u2019m looking for.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, John passed away last month, and brought to a natural end Ged\u2019s work with the hospice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He now does voluntary driving for the NHS, driving CAMHS patients who are unable to make their own way to appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about how volunteering is changing lives here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ged tells Optimist: \u201cI\u2019m fortunate that I\u2019ve got time on my hands, I\u2019ve got a car and I like driving. I don\u2019t do it for any financial gain, I just want to contribute something back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m lucky I don\u2019t need to work, I can live on what I\u2019ve got. Other people are struggling, so if I can help, and if more people could help, I think the world would be a better place. Corny, but it\u2019s true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ged finishes by telling Optimist: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t take big, heroic, grandiose gestures; it\u2019s the little things you do that can make a massive difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople can do what to them, is not a massive commitment, but to someone else, can change their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd if you can do that\u2026 do it.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Follow the story of Ged Callaghan and how he changed the lives of hospice patients through voluntary work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":988,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[514,47],"tags":[28,62,56,67,82,52],"class_list":["post-678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-combating","category-community","tag-community","tag-optimism","tag-optimistic","tag-passion","tag-support","tag-volunteering"],"yoast_head":"\nVoluntary driving changes lives of hospice patients<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Voluntary driving changes lives of hospice patients in their final years, and opens up the world for them again.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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