Well, the first thing to know about me is that I love driving! My father owned a garage in Bangor, so I suppose you could say that driving is in my blood! When I was growing up as a kid, my next door neighbour had a jeep pedal car and I just had a normal pedal car, I was so jealous! That is probably where my passion for cars and driving began. I have driven around the perimeter of Ireland 3 times (1500 miles), once in an original American Willy's Jeep, once in a Morris Oxford and once in an Austin Healy Sprite.

I worked for the Milk Marketing Board (they are now called United Dairies) as a transport inspector, this was the perfect job for me, I got to travel all over Northern Ireland inspecting vehicles.

I had never done any volunteering before, but I took early retirement in 2001 because I had to have a triple heart bypass, so I was out of action for 1 year. After I got back on my feet again, I went to the job market looking for work, but they didnt have anything, however they told me about a project that was looking for a volunteer driver and so I jumped at the chance.

I am a real 'people person' so I really enjoyed meeting people from all different walks of life, it is so interesting, everyone has a story to tell. We chat and have a laugh, and I always say that laughter is the best medicine, so it keeps me young and upbeat too. Yes, driving is part of the volunteer role, but it is so much more than that. I get to play a vital role in people's lives. I see myself as being a link in a chain that provides support to vulnerable people.

I would encourage anyone to give volunteering a go! You are not on your own, you get full back up from your volunteer co-ordinator. I havent met anyone yet that doesnt enjoy it.