Mary is an elderly lady in her 80’s. She is a carer for her son, Robert, who is in his 50’s and has complex neurodiverse needs. He also has physical health problems which require visits to see a consultant at hospital. Mary had no option other than to use public transport to take Robert to his hospital appointments as she doesn’t drive. This involved three buses each way and would take many hours there and back. Robert struggled to use the bus because of his neurodiversity and Mary was finding it increasingly difficult to get him to the appointments. Sometimes it was just too much if Mary felt unable to cope, or Robert refused to get on a bus and so then they wouldn’t make it to the hospital at all and would miss the appointment. The struggle to get Robert to appointments began to affect Mary’s mental health.
In November 2023, with the help of Surrey Community Action’s Good Neighbour Advisor, a new good neighbour scheme called The Ashes was launched to help local people living in Ash, Ash Vale and Ash Green. Now, Mary books a volunteer driver via The Ashes for Robert’s hospital appointments. She accompanies Robert in the car as his carer. Because they are being picked up from their doorstep and Robert feels far more comfortable in the car and the journey is direct, they no longer miss hospital appointments. Mary’s mental health has improved immeasurably.
Mary says: “I’m so very grateful to The Ashes for helping us to get to the hospital. It was becoming far too much for me and I was really struggling to cope with it all. We don’t miss hospital appointments anymore. I really can’t begin to express my gratitude.”
