Getting Help

What help can Good Neighbours offer me?

Our services include:

  • driving and then escorting people to local medical appointments, including
    doctor, dentist, optician, physiotherapist, podiatrist
  • taking people to hospital appointments and wait there with them
  • taking someone to visit their partner in a local care home
  • other small tasks – call our co-ordinator to find out whether we can help
  • read our Client leaflet for more information

Opening hours

We take calls from clients on weekdays only, between 9am and 5pm excluding bank holidays. We close for business between Christmas and New Year.

Notice of your request

Please give us plenty of notice of your request!  About 2 weeks notice is helpful to us, but if there is less time we will try to arrange for a volunteer to help you.

If you need our help to get to a fixed appointment, please be sure of the date, time and address before you phone.

Becoming a client

We take on new clients living in SO53 postcode who have a medical appointment within the next month. We will ask for some basic information about you and your health at the time of registration. This is, of course, confidential to you and the coordinators.

Contacting us

Phone our duty coordinator on weekdays between 9am and 5pm. You may hear the answerphone message so speak clearly and slowly and give your name and phone number so that they can get back to you as soon as they can.

Our coordinators will try to match your request with a volunteer who has offered their time on the day and at the time that is needed. This may take many calls.

If your request involves transport, the coordinator will phone you when they have found a volunteer, to give you the time when you will be collected, the driver’s first name and the colour of their car. Make sure that you write these details down!

Contributions to our costs

We are a non profit making organisation and rely on donations from our clients to keep the scheme in operation. We ask all our clients to contribute to all our costs. Some routes have minimum suggested donations, such as return visits to hospitals and regular visits to care homes. For other journeys we ask for a minimum contribution of 50p per mile.

Your donation will go to our funds from which we repay driving expenses and to cover other costs. Our volunteer will give you an envelope for your contribution – please seal it after putting your money in. Volunteers will not open envelopes and they are not allowed to accept tips from you.