Esher and Claygate Car Service

WHAT WE DO

We provide transport to advance medical appo​intments (GPs, local hospitals, physios, dentists and opticians) for residents of Esher and Claygate in Surrey who are unable to use public transport or drive themselves. Anyone in need can just call us and leave a message or email and we'll find a volunteer to get the patient to their appointment on time. We do ask for at least two days notice, where possible.

Our volunteer drivers collect clients from their homes, take them to their appointments, wait and drive them home. One-way transport is provided to large hospitals, such as Kingston. We do have geographical limits (see Map, below).
We cannot guarantee a volunteer driver will always be available but we only occasionally fail to find someone. We always try to be flexible but some services, such as handling heavy wheelchairs, is beyond our scope. Our drivers have the required insurance cover and undertake annual safeguarding checks.

​We do not charge, but suggest a voluntary donation of £3 per return journey made within Esher and Claygate, and £5 for further afield. Donations can be given in cash to the driver or online (see 'Donations', below). We are self financing. Our essential running expenses are covered by donations received and occasional fundraising events.​

To make a booking, call us directly and leave a message on the answerphone, giving us as much notice as you can. We will get back to you. Or you can ask your surgery to book a car for you.

Please note that live links to the email address might not work on all platforms. 

Call: 07501 029237

Email: eccsdriverequests@gmail.com

The Esher & Claygate Car Service is a godsend for getting to the doctors. I think the drivers are delightful, they are all sociable and helpful and we have lovely conversations. 

Mrs B, Esher

THE AREA WE COVER

Only in very exceptional cases can we provide transport to hospitals or medical establishments beyond the yellow shaded area below.

Support the service / DONATIONS

​If you would like to help us to continue providing this service, you might consider making a donation.

Ways to do this: 

  • ​Make out a cheque to 'Esher & Claygate Car Service' and hand it to a committee member ​                         (call 07501 029237 or email ec.carservice@gmail.com for details).

  • Make an online transaction, using our account details:                                                                  Claygate and Esher Car Service. Sort Code - 30-99-09. Account number - 01405806 

  • Ask for a funeral collection to be made on our behalf.

  • ​Leave a legacy in your will to Esher & Claygate Car Service.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We always need more drivers so that we can extend the services we provide. All you need is a clean driving licence and a few spare hours a month at times to suit you. 

If you enjoy the company of older people and would like to help isolated, sometimes lonely people in your community, you will find this a very rewarding use of your time. 

Once you have expressed an interest, we will come and meet you, explain the commitment and how the service works, give you application forms to join us and begin setting up Disclosure & Barring Service clearance. When satisfactory references have been received, you will be ready to start driving for us.
​
It is a very flexible role. You can do as little or as much driving as you want and choose which days and times you are available. If you wish, you can claim petrol and parking expenses. 

Drivers are also asked to take a turn in taking phone bookings via the charity’s mobile and finding drivers for these bookings. This would usually be for one period of two weeks a year at a time to suit themselves.
 
Drivers need to have empathy with older people’s needs, enjoy their company and be patient, tolerant, reliable, trustworthy and well organised.

HOW TO APPLY

Call the Car Service number 07501 029237 and ask to be put in touch with one of our Volunteer Co-ordinators or email us on ec.carservice@gmail.com ​

WHO WE ARE

At any given time we have around 40 volunteer drivers. We take out references before recruiting drivers and all drivers must complete the required Disclosure & Barring Service check. Drivers can claim expenses and decide how often they wish to drive for us. Each driver is also asked to take the bookings for two weeks once a year using the Service’s mobile phone in their homes. If you are interested in volunteering, please email ec.carservice@gmail.com

OUR COMMITTEE

The service is run by a management committee, elected annually at the Annual General Meeting.
From July 2024:

  • Pauline Parfitt, Co-Chair  

  • Tracy Ambidge, Co-Chair

  • Steve Fleming, Treasurer

  • Philippa Day

  • ​Pauline Harris

  • Marietta Nathanson

  • Ian Royce    

  • Elizabeth Walker

  • Peter Whitehead

PEOPLE AND EVENTS

The car service has been served by many wonderful people, some of them pictured above. It also takes part in community events, such as Claygate's Get Involved Day and Holy Trinity Church's Connections mornings. When funds allow (thanks to drivers declining to claim expenses for their journeys), the service makes charitable grants.
IN 2023. We donated £250 to Joseph Clifton, who has Down's Syndrome, and was seeking sponsorship to help him compete in the Senior European Karate championships. The committee also agreed to make donations of £500 to four local charities: Cheer (Concern & Help for East Elmbridge Retired); Claygate Youth and Community Hub; Elmbridge Dementia Services; and Elmbridge Community Transport. The last two services combined to provide transport and tea for Alzheimer’s sufferers and their carers in July at a community centre in Thames Ditton, attended by about 70 people enjoying tea and dancing to a band. Two Elmbridge Community Transport mini buses ferried people to and from the venue. 

IN 2024. We donated £500 each to Cheer and the Claygate Youth and Community Hub. And we gave £150 each to Save The Children and Parkinsons UK, in memory of the late Gill Barnett, one of the founders of the Car Service.
TESTIMONIALS

WHAT DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS ARE SAYING

"Wow!!! We feel like we've won the lottery!!! 
Discovering Esher & Claygate Car Service has thrown a lifeline to our family. We have a non verbal autistic child and 2 other teenagers. My wife suffers from secondary progressive MS. I was the driver of the family but have had to surrender my licence as, after a recent stroke I have also been diagnosed with epilepsy. We obviously have to go to a lot of medical appointments and Esher & Claygate Car Service makes this easy and possible and, as we are both unable to work, it is also exceptionally good value. Every driver we've had has been without fail extremely friendly, helpful and very capable. It's very reassuring to find that such care and consideration is available in our community. ​Just ​wonderful!!"                     Mr B, Esher

“This is a marvellous service! I’d been driving myself until December 2015 but now I can’t drive any more, so my wife and I use Esher & Claygate Car Service for doctor’s appointments quite frequently. We were very impressed with a driver the other day. He took us to the hospital but there was nowhere to park. He literally drove around for an hour to wait for us then he was right outside, waiting for us when we came out. If it wasn’t for Esher & Claygate Car service we’d have to take taxis and that would be a minimum of £6 each way. The drivers are very nice people. They are very careful drivers, always prompt, leave plenty of time to collect you. My only complaint is that we don’t pay them enough!” - Mr H, Claygate

“I think it’s a wonderful service. I need it to take me to the doctor's regularly. All the drivers are lovely. Without the service I’d have to get a taxi. I can drive my mobility scooter but I don’t like it in bad weather and over the traffic lights. I used to walk but I can’t now. It’s no fun living alone really so it’s nice to have a chat in the car.”  Mrs R, Claygate
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And from a driver...
“I retired from a full time position in business four years ago.
I planned to spend more time doing the things I always wanted to do but didn’t previously have the time – travelling, bridge, gardening, taking up golf and, with grandchildren appearing at an alarming rate, ‘spending more time with the family’. I also thought I should do something to help other people and decided to join the Esher & Claygate Car Service as a volunteer driver.  It isn’t onerous and I enjoy talking to and helping people who use the service.  It is not just driving, it is a more encompassing involvement. Most of the clients are interesting and love chatting, and all are grateful. It is one of the most rewarding things I have done in years."  - Roy 

useful links

      Claygate Pharmacy. Free prescription collection and delivery service, 25-27 The Parade, Claygate, Surrey, KT10 0PD. www.claygatepharmacy.com

  • Elmbridge Borough Council. Community Services such as Meals-on-Wheels and Community Transport run by the local council. www.elmbridge.gov.uk

  • CHEER. Befriending and home visits for help with claiming benefits and accessing local services. www.cheer-elmbridge.org.uk

  • Homesupport Elmbridge. Provides domestic, shopping and gardening services for the elderly and vulnerable in Elmbridge. www.homesupportelmbridge.org.uk

  • Connections, Holy Trinity Claygate. A social club for older people at Holy Trinity Church. Meets fortnightly on Tuesday at 10am. www.holytrinityclaygate.org.uk

  • Surrey Community Action. Provides advice and support to individuals and groups wishing to start a new good neighbour scheme, and helps existing schemes to thrive and grow. Esher & Claygate Car Service is one of 100 schemes supported by Surrey Community Action across the county. www.surreyca.org.uk. http://www.surreyca.org.uk/services/good-neighbour-schemes/

  • Esher Pastoral Care. Befriending and short term help with shopping. Ring 01372 464483

Other local neighbourhood transport schemes
How it all started
The organisation was started in the 1970s by David Bentley, then the Rector of Christ Church, Esher, as part of the church's programme of pastoral care. It was originally split into two branches, one providing care and one providing transport. The 'care' branch was run by local churchgoer Margaretha de Haan. 

“In the 1970s and 80s we visited people who couldn’t get around, and we used to shop for them and stay with them for company,” explains Margaretha.

Eileen Martineau ran the transport branch, which took passengers to their doctors’ and hospital appointments.

One of the original volunteers was Gill Barnett, who retired from the service in 2016 after almost 40 years service. Gill took over the running of the car charity in the 1980s and amalgamated it with the care side to provide both services. In the 1990s it became independent from the church and then in 1996, a charity providing transport in Claygate closed, and passengers from Claygate were taken on by the Esher service. The service became Esher & Claygate Care.

“We used to visit passengers and take them to do their shopping, as well as drive people to their hospital appointments,” Gill says. “We had one passenger who had cerebral palsy and we took him to Waitrose every Wednesday for 12 or 13 years. There was a rota of five people who would take it in turns.”

The rota was created by Lis Hughes, another longstanding volunteer, who took over the running of the charity for two years when Gill lived in Indonesia. When Gill returned, Lis worked as Treasurer and they ran the service together for more than 20 years.

In early 2016, Gill and Lis stepped down and their incredible commitment was recognised when they both received the Elmbridge Long Service Volunteer Awards in October 2016. Gill was also awarded the Silver Salver by the Esher Residents Association in November.

Esher & Claygate Car Service is now run by a committee which remains dedicated to the support and welfare of the passengers.