THE Trowbridge Area Community Link Scheme (TACLS) is urgently seeking more volunteers to maintain and hopefully increase the volume of services it provides, namely, helping local people in a personal and friendly way.

TACLS aims to provide people in need with: Transport to and from hospitals, doctors' and dentists' surgeries and other medically-related appointments; transport to visit relatives and friends in hospitals, nursing and care homes, their own homes or at local group meetings; assistance with shopping or doing shopping from a list for people who are housebound; good neighbour services of visiting for a chat and/or to provide company.

Our services operate through a co-ordinator via the TACLS mobile phone on which requests for help are made. The co-ordinator then finds an available volunteer driver and "links" the volunteer to the client's request, confirming the trip/service details with the volunteer and the client. The volunteer driver subsequently transports the client as requested.

Our volunteer drivers receive 45 pence per mile, door to door, to cover all the car costs for providing their own car to carry out the trip.

TACLS as a charity does not make a charge for its services but it does rely largely on client donations to ensure that it can continue to provide its services into the future.

We are most urgently seeking volunteer co-ordinators, drivers and committee members.

Volunteer co-ordinators are each asked to give a full day, approximately from 9.15am to 5pm, with clients' calls answered on our mobile phone from 9.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday.

Outside these hours there is an answerphone facility. All service details are recorded on a simple computerised booking system using a laptop computer. Co-ordinators work in their own homes with the mobile phone and the laptop computer passed from one co-ordinator to the next.

Volunteer drivers and befrienders are asked to give whatever time they can and they accept only those trips that they want to undertake.

Some drivers prefer to work locally while others prefer longer trips, mainly to hospitals and clinics. Our drivers get real job satisfaction from helping people in need and our clients greatly value the personalised service they receive, which also helps them to live more independent lives.

Training is provided for all our volunteers and we operate within Good Practice Guidelines.

TACLS is an independent charity managed by a small management committee of our local volunteers.

We are always keen to recruit more members to the management committee to increase our skills base and manage the organisation more effectively. TACLS covers the parishes of Great Hinton, Hilperton, Keevil, North Bradley, Southwick, Staverton, Steeple Ashton, Trowbridge, West Ashton and shares Semington with the Melksham Link Scheme.

We receive invaluable support and guidance from Wiltshire Community First which initiated the Link schemes in Wiltshire, where there are now 44 Link Schemes.

If you wish to help us help people in need in our local community please contact our co-ordinator on our mobile phone 07969 347042 or our volunteer recruitment and support officer, Sue Marshall, on 01225 760643.

Doug Ross, Chairman, Trowbridge Area Link Scheme