If it hadn’t been for the volunteer drivers of the Southern 4×4 Response, many frontline workers might not have made it into Cork University Hospital or other crucial centres during this bitterly cold spell.
Now the team who have crisscrossed Cork and Kerry – picking up nurses, doctors and other key workers and bringing them into work are looking for a bit of help from the public.
As well as ferrying frontline workers through snow and ice, since the start of the arctic blast they have also delivered medicine and food to people in isolated or otherwise inaccessible areas, using their sure-footed off-road vehicles
They have driven all over Cork and Kerry for the last five days to help those in need by offering to transport front-line care workers and dialysis patients, along with delivering medical and welfare supplies to those in need stuck inside their homes.
Just this morning volunteers were out ‘up and early’ as they brought staff to the CUH before heading to work themselves. Yesterday they were delivering bread and milk to houses on behalf of traffic Garda.
In an impressive video that the team shared on social media, a volunteer can be seen towing a stuck van that was struggling to drive up a steep, icy incline. Volunteers managed to move the vehicle to a safer location by using recovery tracks.
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The volunteers are keeping it lighthearted and appreciating the little things on social media, such as sharing photos of the sunrise as they braved the conditions on the way to Mallow General Hospital, captioning the photo with “we had the pleasure of admiring the sunrise in beautiful snowy surroundings”.
Southern 4×4 Response taking in a beautiful sunset before transporting staff to hospital
(Image: Southern 4×4 Response / X)
Now, as the cold snap continues, the group is asking for help to raise some much-needed funds, which will go towards their fuel. Conor O’Neill, who founded the organisation back in 2019, set up the GoFundMe and said: “Our members use their own vehicles. They are not paid. We do not have a source of funding to reimburse them for fuel costs. This is day 5 for them. Lots of miles covered.”
He added: “Southern 4×4 Response is a voluntary organisation which operates throughout Cork and Kerry. We are private individuals, who in emergencies, when called upon by the authorities, assist in the transport and essential workers such as healthcare and Garda staff. We also deliver medications and food supplies.”
“If you would like to support what we do, please donate what you can to keep our wheels turning.”
Speaking to CorkBeo, Conor, who is a technical officer at MTU, has twelve volunteers behind him. He said the crew goes on “stand-by” when an Orange Warning is issued, and thinks that this is the “worst spell of weather in terms of duration” since Southern 4×4 Response was founded.
He added that while some of his volunteers are retired, they are still out driving every day, looking for people to help.
See the GoFundMe for Southern 4×4 Response here.