I took up post in 2003, the first person employed by KingsCare independently from Kingsteignton Medical Practice. My brief was to grow the new charity to meet future demands on voluntary sector provision. My lucky break came at the end of that year when I won a minibus with the Herald Express. We had to agree to drive around for the first year with the slogan ‘We won this bus with the Herald Express’ emblazoned on the bonnet. This gave us great publicity, brought forward some marvellous volunteer drivers and gave the patients a chance to go all over the place on trips out. By 2014 Brighty bus was getting rather rusty so we launched a major fund raising campaign to buy a new one. Since then the demand for transport services has continued to grow and we later bought a people carrier and last year, bought a second wheelchair accessible car to add to the fleet.
My role is to manage the charity under the leadership and guidance of the board of trustees. Our staff currently number 12, mostly part time. My role requires me to oversee and support their work including the recruitment, training and deployment of our many volunteers. I also have the responsibility for fundraising to maintain our current activities and to develop new. Quite a challenge these days!