Ring and Ride Stars Pick up Top Awards

When Ring and Ride passengers get on board Ray Pickering's mini bus they can sit back and relax, safe in the knowledge they are in good hands.

That's because Ray (pictured left), from Great Barr, has just been voted the charity's Driver of the Year, beating more than 500 rivals in a series of tricky practical and theory driving tests.

The 58-year-old celebrated his award along with colleague Lin Harvey (pictured left), who landed the Non-Driver of the Year title at the West Midlands Special Needs Transport Awards held at the Clarendon Suite in Edgbaston.

Lin, aged 58 and from Hednesford, won her award after answering a series of questions about the Ring and Ride business and for her dedication as Administration Controller at the charity's Walsall depot in Croxstalls Road, Bloxwich.

As well as being presented with a silver cup the pair also won a crystal trophy, a watch and £400 in travel vouchers.

It was the second year that West Midlands Special Needs Transport had held awards for its 670 employees, who provide door to door transport for thousands of local people with limited mobility.

Ray, who is based at the Aston depot and is a former driving instructor, said: 'This award is the icing on the cake for me because I love this job and the chance it gives you to help people.'

'You really get to know your passengers and I can tell when they are feeling down or something isn't right. It means I can keep an eye out for them.'

Ray, who has 12 years service with Ring and Ride plans to put his travel vouchers towards a dream trip for himself and wife Judy to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary next year.

Lin, who has been working for the charity for 18 years helping people to register as Ring and Ride passengers and sorting out any queries they may have, added: 'I get a lot of satisfaction working here and love talking to our customers although you realise just how lonely and vulnerable some of them are. Ring and Ride is a real lifeline for them.'

Among those attending the awards were regular passengers of the Ring and Ride service which provides around two million trips a year in the West Midlands for more than 70,000 registered users. Passengers phone a special number to book their journeys giving details of where they want to be picked up and taken to and the time they want to travel.

Peter Maggs, Chief Executive of wmsnt, said: 'These awards recognise the hard work and dedication of our staff in looking after our passengers.'

'They provide an incredibly important service transporting people to the doctor's, to the shops, to visit friends and family and to day centres. Without it, many of our users would not be able to continue living independent lives in their own homes.'

The service is primarily funded by Centro, the region's transport authority, which provides more than £11 million a year. wmsnt also contributes towards the cost of providing Ring and Ride from its contract operations and training.