MANY people in the Post area were grateful to a group of unpaid volunteer 4x4 drivers who were willing to put their well-equipped vehicles and skills at the disposal of the emergency and medical services and other bodies, writes Christine Williams.

The drivers are members of ‘Devon and Cornwall 4x4 Response’, who are ready to respond 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Two such volunteers are Gary Parkinson and Julia Hobday, of Bude, who last week had a particularly busy few days. As the ‘Beast from the East’ and Storm Emma closed in, Julia brought nurses and relatives of patients from their homes to Stratton Hospital although road conditions prevented her reaching a nurse at Week St Mary.

On Friday, she completed a 129-mile round trip to bring four staff from Newquay to a care home at Portscatho, which was being lashed by strong winds and, later in the day, brought a nurse from Launceston to the minor injuries unit at Stratton.

Similarly, in the evening Gary brought a nurse to Stratton, waited three hours for her then well after midnight took her home.

The next day he was off again at 6am to take more staff to Stratton and return the night shift staff to their homes. Then on Sunday afternoon he was off again to return a patient in Barnstaple Hospital to his home at Boscastle.

While finally relaxing over a cup of tea they related how they are also very active in supporting charity fundraising events such as the Children’s Hospice South West ‘Santa Run’ and half marathons by providing logistical support, marshals etc.

As well as emergency response, the group gets involved in training exercises and events on Dartmoor such as Ten Tors in support of rescue teams and they recalled how one year they had driven at midnight in thick fog to rescue a missing boy.

They said: “It can be very challenging at times, but we are always ready to do our utmost to help in any way we can.”