A VOLUNTEER driver service which takes elderly and disabled people to vital medical and social appointments is desperately seeking sponsorship.

The driver scheme run by Citizens Advice (formerly Citizens Advice Bureau) in North Oxfordshire aims to combat loneliness and isolation, helping people to remain independent.

Volunteer drivers use their own cars to help residents get to medical and social appointments and go shopping where there is no other reasonable way they could get to their destination.

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Scheme organisers say the need for their service is growing, and over the next year they expect to take people on 3,000 journeys totalling 70,000 miles.

The drivers give their time for free, but passengers pay them 45p per mile to cover the vehicle running costs.

Although Cherwell District Council provides funding for the service it is currently under threat and could end by April 2022.

Citizens Advice wants to avoid passing the cost of the service onto passengers and is seeking sponsorship from local businesses to ensure the community service remains affordable.

Local businesses can increase their visibility and support their community by sponsoring one or more of the volunteer cars.

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The vehicles use a magnetic Volunteer Driver Service (VDS) livery whilst taking passengers to medical appointments, care homes, and social groups in north Oxfordshire and Oxford on a daily basis.

Sponsors can add their logo beside the VDS logo to directly link their business to the community service.

Andrea Cawley from Barking Mad Banbury, a dog home boarding business, is one of its sponsors.

She said: “We’re so thrilled to now be a part of the wonderful Volunteer Driver Service.

“As well as helping people get out and about in their local community, we get our Barking Mad Banbury Home Dog Boarding message out there year-round and for a fraction of normal advertising costs. It’s a win-win-win.”

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Sponsorship packages vary in price depending on mileage and visibility and prices begin at £100 for low mileage vehicles, to £2,000 for a vehicle running at 10,000 miles a year.

Keith Davies from quiz company Quizpacks also sponsors a VDS vehicle.

He said: “I can get my company logo on a vehicle travelling across Cherwell for just £100 per year."

Mark Harding and Anne Jeffery, who run entertainment business, Sparky & Sprite, said: “We wanted to get our name out there a bit more, so what better way than to sponsor a Volunteer Driver Service car.”

To sponsor a vehicle, call 0300 3030 125 or email transport@volunteerconnect.org.uk