Selsey woman organises army of volunteer drivers to help vulnerable people attend vaccinations

Patients in Chichester will be vaccinated at one of four GP surgeries – the Selsey Centre, Tangmere Village Centre, Pulborough Medical Group and Riverbank Medical Centre.

But with no site in the city centre, it means some people will face a journey to get to their appointment.

Julie Fullick from Selsey was inspired to act after seeing concerned posts on Facebook about vulnerable over-80s who might not have a car or anyone to help them with transport.

So the mother-of-two, who has been busy homeschooling her children while also home-working for her job at a pharmaceutical company, decided to set up a transport network to serve people attending The Selsey Centre herself, joking: “If there’s one thing I’m good at it’s spreadsheets and coordinating people.”

After an appeal online, she received dozens of offers from individuals who work as drivers and community transport organisations willing to volunteer.

“It’s been really positive,” she said.

Julie now has collected an army of volunteers who are ready to help out as soon as vaccinations begin later this week.

With around 300 jabs expected to be booked in per day, she said it was going to be ‘a steep learning curve’.

“It’s going to be chaotic, it’s all a bit short notice,” she said.

Julie is asking people not to request transport until they are given an appointment – which means she has ‘no idea’ what the uptake will be.

However she is confident they have enough volunteers to help everyone in need.

Julie has been supported by the Selsey Community Forum, which has helped carry out risk assessments and help with insurance cover.

Chairman Mike Nicholls said safety advice had been given to all drivers, who had also been checked out from a safeguarding point of view.

He said there has been ‘a good offer’ from drivers eager to help out.

“People are being very willing, there’s a community desire to get as many vulnerable people vaccinated as quickly as possible,” he said.

“Whatever can be done to help that is being done.”

However he stressed that the service being provided was not a ‘taxi service’ but was aimed at people who had no other means of getting to the centre.

“We don’t want to be overwhelmed,” he said.

Anyone in need of support to attend their vaccination at the Selsey Centre should contact Julie once they have the details of their appointment on 07590 060 234.

A spokesperson for the Sussex COVID-19 vaccination programme said: “We recognise that some people will have to travel further than others to get their vaccination depending on where they live in the local area.

“We have had incredible support from community transport providers and other groups in the Chichester District which can offer transport to people attending one of the GP led vaccination services for their vaccine appointment.

“If anyone needs support with getting to their appointment, please speak to the booking team when they contact you to arrange your appointment and they can share details of transport to help you.”