A WOMAN from Ilminster was among five British Red Cross volunteers in Somerset who were given awards for long-time service.

Pippa Hamilton, 67, received the award for her five years of service.

She said: “The British Red Cross’s volunteers should never underestimate how important they are. Giving up your time to be a Transport Support volunteer is not just driving a patient from A to B.

“It is being there to listen to their fears and anxieties, to their life story, their family dynamics and their regrets. It all comes tumbling out as you sit side by side.

“After a trip, the patient is always so full of gratitude, and sometimes it is overwhelming gratitude, so I often drive back home carrying huge love for the passenger that I met for the first time only a few hours before.

“The Red Cross are here to help people in crisis, which is not limited to people in conflict zones - it is right down to the passenger in your car and their crisis right now.”

Pippa is one of the volunteers of the Transport Support service, who give up their free time to drive people to doctor or hospital appointments when it is not easy for them to m travel by themselves.

They take people to and from outpatient appointments at Musgrove Park Oncology department and the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre.

Robin Williams and David Penny were given awards for 20 years of service, while Gordon Knight celebrated 10 years of service. Wayland Chan was also awarded for five years of service.

Pippa and the other volunteers were given their awards at the British Red Cross’s office in Taunton on December 15, 2022.

Since October 2021, the Somerset Transport Support volunteer team has taken over 3,500 trips, travelling a total distance of 152,000 miles.

Volunteers are a crucial part of the British Red Cross’s work, and the charity is currently recruiting more Transport Support volunteers in Somerset.

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