Grangemouth residents to launch new community transport charity for those with cancer

Grangemouth Car4U, which aims to start up within the next six weeks, will be available to residents in the Grangemouth and Skinflats area.

The service will take locals with a cancer diagnosis wherever they need to go to access services.

It will also differ from similar organisations, as Grangemouth Car4U doesn’t require patients wishing to use the services to book through their GP. Instead, patients can contact the charity directly, or book via their GP if they wish.

Janice Gray, 61, is a retired nurse who has lived in Grangemouth her whole life and is the chair behind the new charity group, which hopes to take “a lot of the stress away” from those living with cancer.

A seedling of an idea was planted a year ago when a former colleague of Janice’s, who is now a member of Bo’ness Car4U, approached her and asked if she was interested in doing something similar in Grangemouth. After taking time to enjoy and adjust to retirement, Janice revisited the idea and has since been working with six other people to build up the charity.

Janice said: “It’s a real team effort, and I’ve got a great team behind me.”

Over the last few months, the team have been working through various legal processes to make sure everything is lined up and in order before they start their engines so they don’t stall along the way.

Janice said: “We’re doing it all very methodically so that it’ll last forever. Hopefully, if we get everything in place correctly, then it will be able to go forward for years to come.”

Currently, the group is in the middle of recruiting volunteers to help carry out their services. Volunteers don’t need to be able to drive, but if they do want to be on the transport side of things, they must pass a PVG check and have a valid licence. Non-motorists can still assist with admin duties, such as helping co-ordinate drivers.

All drivers will be compensated for fuel through the charity. To fund this, alongside other expenses, the group are in the process of applying for different funding schemes and grants and are expecting to hold fundraising events next year.

Janice, who previously worked as a nurse, has witnessed first-hand the benefits that support like this can bring to patients and families living with cancer.

She said: “For the last 20 years I have been a community nurse, so I do know the impact of having to go every day for radiotherapy or having to endure chemotherapy and the stress and strain that [comes with it].

“It’s a stress for the families as well because the chance is that families are working and they can’t take time off every day, so by doing this we’re taking a lot of the stress away, hopefully, from the families and from the people who are suffering from cancer.

“Hopefully we will make the area proud. It hits home with a lot of people, so I’m confident that Grangemouth will pull together and we’ll make this service really worthwhile for everybody.”