A VOLUNTEER driver from Chard who covers thousands of miles a year taking cancer patients for treatment in Taunton and Bristol has been given a British Red Cross long service award.

Eric Beckley, who received a tenyear service award, is part of a 70- strong team of volunteer drivers who together clock up around 500,000 miles a year helping over 1,000 patients.

The Red Cross provides the free door-to-door transport service under a contract with the Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group, taking people from their homes in Somerset to the Bristol Haematology Oncology Centre or the Beacon Centre in Taunton.

Babette Fuller, directorate manager of Haematology, Oncology & Palliative Care at the Beacon Centre, said: “Some patients have to attend on a daily basis for several weeks.

“The additional stress and cost it incurs can prove difficult to endure at a time of already heightened anxiety.

“The Red Cross, supported by dedicated volunteers, provides an invaluable service for many of these patients and the Red Cross drivers are hugely appreciated.”

To be eligible for the free service, people have to live in Somerset or have a Somerset GP, and must meet the SCCG’s eligibility criteria.

The service is accessed via referral from the NHS. To find out more about the Red Cross, visit redcross.org.uk