Activity group driver and reserve driver training

Training 2: preparing for the activity group

Preparing for the activity group

In the days leading up to each activity group, there are a few tasks that activity group drivers and reserve drivers need to carry out to make sure that everything goes smoothly on the day.  

As a general rule, the activity group coordinator will get in touch with you a few weeks before the activity group to check that you’re still able to volunteer. Please try to get back to them as soon as you possibly can so that they have enough time to find a reserve driver if necessary.

Once you’ve confirmed that you’re available, the activity group coordinator will let you know which older people you’ll be driving to the activity group.

If you’re a reserve driver you might be asked to help at short notice, sometimes this could be just a day or two before the activity group. Please let the activity group coordinator know as soon as possible if you’re able to drive, but remember there is no obligation to drive, reserve drivers are only expected to help out when they can.

Working out your route and timings

The activity group coordinator will give you the phone number and home address of the older people you will be driving, along with the address of where the activity group will be taking place.

Your first step is to work out roughly how long it will take you to collect the older people and then drive them to the activity group venue.

If you’re not familiar with the route, you can use online services such as Google maps or the AA route planner to plan your journey and get an estimate of how long it will take.

It’s a good idea to allow at least ten minutes per older person for pick-up, as it may take them a little while to walk from their front door to your car.

Calling the older people you’ll be driving

Once you’ve worked out the timings, your next step will be to call the older people you’re due to be collecting to check if they’re still happy and able to attend the activity group. You would generally do this around three or four days before the activity group, but this can vary from group to group so please check with your activity group coordinator.

If an older person confirms that they would still like to attend the activity group, let them know what time you’ll be picking them up and ask if they can try to be ready to leave at that time.

You can also use this phone call as an opportunity to ask if the older person has any questions or worries about the activity group or if there is anything they need you to be aware of on the day, for example, any parking restrictions.

After you’ve finished speaking to the older people, please get in touch with the activity group coordinator to let them know who will be attending so that they will be able to give the activity lead a rough idea of numbers of people to expect on the day.

The activity group coordinator will have access to the emergency contact details for the older people in your group, although unfortunately not every older person will have an emergency contact. If you’ve tried calling an older person on three occasions and still haven’t been able to get through, please let the activity group coordinator know so that they can try and contact the older person themselves and/or get in touch with their emergency contact, if one is available.