The Victorian Nationals hosted Royal Flying Doctor Services Victoria at Parliament this week to help spread the success of the volunteer-led community transport team.
Hosted by Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland, the event was a fantastic opportunity to share some of the incredible work the program has been doing in regional communities.
Since launching in 2018, the Flying Doctor Community Transport program has been providing eligible clients with free transport from home to health appointments and funded social support groups.
135 Volunteer drivers across the State have now covered one million kilometres across 33,579 trips, operating in three major regions (Western Victoria, Murray, and Gippsland).
Heathcote, within the Euroa Electorate, continues to be the base of the program, with nearly 20,000 trips completed within the area.
Ms Cleeland was full of praise for the volunteer program, discussing the impact the service has had on those in isolated communities and hoped for more services throughout the Euroa electorate.
“I was introduced to Peter Cunningham and this amazing group in May as part of National Volunteer Week,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Since then, I have been eagerly watching the Community Transport team’s progress and have wanted to help promote them in any way I can.
“The patient transport team’s sole focus is to help patients in isolated communities make it to crucial medical appointments.
“For many of these patients being helped, this would be financially and practically impossible.
“To say this service has helped improve the health and wellbeing of our community is an absolute understatement. They genuinely help to save lives.
“For the people this service provides for, it’s more than just accessing health care but also about maintaining social connections in otherwise often isolated communities.”
Ms Cleeland said the Flying Doctor Community Transport represented the best of what regional communities can do for each other.
“As a volunteer-led program, this team represents the best of the community spirit and level of care that our regional towns can offer,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Volunteers are the lifeblood of regional communities and I want to thank them for the countless hours they spend delivering incredible experiences and services to their towns.
“Our amazing local volunteers drop everything to support their neighbours and region.
“The work of community houses, not-for-profits, charities, and their volunteers are critically important. Demand for these services is only increasing and they deserve to be supported properly.”
If you are interested to learn more about the Royal Flying Doctor’s Community Transport service or to get involved, visit: https://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/vic/what-we-do/community-transport/
