I'm often very cynical of stuff like this, and there's more than the sniff of the advertorial here. But otherwise this looks and sounds genuine enough, so praise be
Personally I suspect I'd be overwhelmed with stress doing stuff like this all the time
(And, to be fair, my cynicism is probably more related to virtue-signalling councillors, officials and politicians rather than those in the trade getting involved with this kind of thing...)
Teesside wheelchair and dementia friendly taxi service 'getting people out who don’t normally go out'https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/tees ... i-28685150Gary Munroe and Jill Suckley launched Ring A Ride Teesside last year and have helped people who are older, disabled and lonely to go out.
Image: Gazette LiveA couple who launched a Teesside assisted transport service feel happy that they are helping people to go out who are less able to.
Gary Munroe and Jill Suckley started Ring A Ride Teesside, based in Redcar, around seven months ago and it has been getting "busier and busier", especially since they created their website in December last year. Ring A Ride is a wheelchair accessible and dementia friendly taxi service that focuses on going the extra mile to make its customers feel comfortable and relaxed.
The couple are DBS checked and have undergone dementia awareness training so they know how to communicate with those who suffer from dementia. They started with this just one car and now they have three wheelchair accessible cars and a saloon car.
Gary, 55, from Eston, said: "It's hard work but it’s rewarding because it’s getting people out who don’t normally come out. When you pick nice genuine people up who appreciate the job you’re doing it makes you go home happy. You go to work happy.
"I was a taxi driver before. I’ve always done school runs for Redcar Council and I’ve been a taxi driver for 30 years. There’s a lot of people who can’t get out and there’s a lot of lonely people."
Ring A Ride Teesside has taken customers to day care centres, hospital appointments, airports and more. Gary takes one elderly man in Redcar to a day centre twice a week after he lost a loved one so he is "over the moon".
Also, in November last year the taxi service took an elderly veteran to lay a wreath at Guisborough cenotaph, free of charge, which "made his day". Gary is "going back to the old days of taxi-ing" as he picks customers up right from their door, rather than sending a text to the customer to let them know he is outside like most taxi companies, because he wants to make sure that elderly people have locked their doors and got everything they need before they go out "to give them a bit of peace of mind".
Ring A Ride has taken customers in wheelchairs to airports in Newcastle and Manchester and drivers make sure to take them into the airports, pushing them in their wheelchairs. Gary added: "We go that little bit extra really."
Image: Gazette LiveThis is the first business Gary has owned and before launching the taxi service, Jill, 53, worked in nurseries but she loves her new job as Gary's partner in Ring A Ride. Business has been "steady" for the couple and the former taxi driver believes their regular customers have increased by 15 per cent since December.
Customers can pre-book a taxi for any time of day, so there is a car available 24/7, and the company specialises in hospital appointments as Gary has found that "a lot of people worry about their taxi being late" so Ring A Ride drivers try to always be on time. Also, the company is "getting a lot of calls now from Hartlepool and Stockton" but these areas are "a bit too far out" at the moment.
However, Gary hopes to expand to five cars and be able to serve more areas in the region, like Stockton and Hartlepool. Customers can call 01642040246 to book a Ring A Ride Teesside taxi and more information can be found on the website by
clicking here.
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