Andy Woodman, 36 from Madeley is a volunteer driver at Severn Hospice – Telford and has been fundraising for the last two years.

I have been volunteering now for two months at Severn Hospice – Telford, all I can say is it is ace! I collect patients from their homes in the Hospice ambulance and take them to attend the Day Unit. I get loads of patients commenting on my driving and we have loads of fun together. Not many places consider transport, as most of us take it for granted, but the Hospice thinks of everything to make sure the patients are comfortable.

I first came to know about the work of the Severn Hospice after my mother was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago. On leaving hospital she was to spend the last few weeks of her life at home with myself, my sister and my father. The day my mother came home we were visited by the Severn Hospice who provided us with every little thing we needed, including compassion. The work undertaken by the Hospice in my mother’s last few weeks was immense and this was a key link in ensuring both my mother’s pain and the pain for us as a family was softened.

I get frustrated that people drive past the Hospice without even a second thought. It is only when it touches your family or friends that you realise the work that they do. I want to change the way people see this local cause. All my family and friends now know the work that the Hospice does through me; it is such a fantastic charity because for every £1 you give 92p goes directly on the patients. At a time when these illnesses are not always curable, the priority should be to care for the patients coping with it right now.