About Pirton JoyCare
“To benefit the older residents of Pirton village”
History of JoyCare
Pirton JoyCare was founded as a result of a £10,000 legacy bequeathed by the late Joy Franklin in 1997. Joy was born in Pirton and lived here for most of her life. She left the legacy to be used to “benefit the older residents of Pirton village”.
Consultation with the older residents was undertaken to ascertain what they felt would be of most benefit to them. Various ideas were put forward, and all those eligible, i.e. those over 65 years, were asked to vote on their preferences. Most of these have been implemented.
In the years that JoyCare has been in existence, the legacy has been managed carefully. A donation of £3,000 was made to the village hall for improvements and maintenance, and we fund our various activities. In 2015 we were delighted to receive another legacy, this time from Paul Baldry for £22,000 in recognition of what we do to help the elderly including his father. So this will enable us to continue to help the older residents of Pirton in the foreseeable future, running our existing activities and possibly organising more trips and introducing other schemes.
We currently organise a shopping trip in our mini bus each month and we have one lunches per month in several local pubs. We have occasional outings to places of interest; theatre trips; an annual summer outing; we support a six-weekly chiropody clinic in the village hall and offer annual visits to local surgeries for flu jabs. We sponsor a Good Neighbour Scheme, which primarily helps with transport to medical appointments, etc. and some help and support in the home.
All these activities are either wholly or part-funded by JoyCare. All those who are 60 or older and resident in Pirton are automatically entitled to participate in any or all of our activities.
In August 2001 JoyCare was granted charitable status. This has various advantages and ensures that the aims and objectives identified by the present Trustees will continue to be met. Our Trustees are listed below.
We have approximately 25 volunteers who assist with transport, and are on hand to help with driving for the Good Neighbour Scheme.
All home visits are free but we hope you will make a donation to drivers’ expenses, for example: return trip to Hitchin £5, Stevenage £8, Welwyn £14. Other places by arrangement based on 45p per mile.
Our Officers
Chair – Alison Maple (alison_maple@yahoo.co.uk)
Vice Chair – Pam Waters (pam_waters@btinternet.com)
Secretary – Elaine Derrick (elainderrick@btinternet.com)
Treasurer – Keith Hooton (keith@keithhooton.com)
Our Trustees
Mandy Beswick
Julie Lister
Lorna Sexton
Helen Springer