In 2006 we set up Travelling Companions in response to the many requests we were receiving from frail and very isolated older people who couldn't travel by themselves to visit a loved one in a hospice/care home, or get to hospital for their own medical appointment. The inital 3 year funding from a charitable trust has now ended and we're struggling to continue this much needed service. In the last 3 years, our Travelling Companion volunteers have made over 1,500 journeys. All volunteers are CRB checked. This is a service with consistent demand and is about making sure that some of the frailest members of our community have the right support at a time which can most distressing for them. People are referred to us from a variety of sources including social workers, care home managers, GPs, occupational therapists and many older people themselves ring us direct. Some examples of how we've helped: Mrs W is 84 and her husband was terminally ill in hospital.. Mrs W was upset & distressed as she could not visit her husband as much as she'd like to. She couldn't use public transport due to her own health problems and taxis were just too expensive to use frequently (£34 per round trip). A neighbour had seen one of our leaflets and encouraged her to ring us. Our Travelling Companion volunteers helped her with a total of 15 journeys in the weeks leading to the death of her husband. "The volunteers were such lovely people and they made the situation with my husband easier to bear. If it had not been for these volunteers I would have been unable to visit my husband as often as I did and this meant so much to us both and has provided me with a great deal of comfort since he died." Mrs B's husband had become too frail for her to continue caring for him at home, especially as she herself was becoming increasingly frail. Mr B moved into a care home but, after 60 years of marriage, this was an enormous change and very difficult as, apart from stays in hospital, they had never been apart. Mr and Mrs B were both very distressed in their first few days of being parted. The care home manager contacted us and we were able to help Mrs B visit every day for the first few weeks and now Mrs B gets a taxi some days and we help her visit approximately twice a week. "I usually have the same volunteer now so it really feels as if a friend is coming to pick me up. It's lovely to have a chat and a laugh on the way home after seeing Bill as I can feel a bit low. And the volunteer usually comes in for a cup of tea after taking me home which is lovely company - as it's not easy getting used to living on your own after so long." Just £8,500 would fund this project for a year (covering part time staff member, mileage costs, volunteer recruitment & training, project leaflets).