Driving Miss Daisy opens its doors in Didcot

The trusted transportation and companion service that offers driver assistance and a wide range of other help, has opened a new shopfront on Wantage Road in Didcot

The South Oxfordshire franchise of Driving Miss Daisy was launched in December 2019 by husband-and-wife team Zororo Mubaya and Terence Kavuru to assist anyone of any age who needs a hand when their family isn’t available to help. The couple has lived in Didcot since 2005 and wanted to provide a service giving peace of mind to those with older family members.

Driving Miss Daisy offers assistance of all kinds, ranging from help with shopping trips to support at family events or even just spending a couple of hours chatting or playing board games with someone who might spend a lot of time alone.

The team is DBS-checked, first-aid trained and affiliated to Dementia Friends, plus its drivers hold a Private Hire Licence to help with day trips to a garden centre, the seaside, or even airport runs for people with mobility issues.

The team can also help people get to appointments and will wait with the patient before bringing them home. They can even help collect children from school and take them to after school activities if working parents are unable to make it in time for school pick-ups. A fully-licensed wheelchair accessible vehicle is available.

Mubaya and Kavuru have two sons and varied backgrounds ranging from sound engineering to health and social care recruitment. Mubaya added: “With our experience, we wanted to take our transferable skills and experiences with working with supported living and social care clients who have a need for the transport and companionship that Driving Miss Daisy can offer.

“Driving Miss Daisy is often described as ‘family when family can’t be there’. When times are busy and people sometimes live a long way from their elderly relatives, we want to be able to provide peace of mind. We are really enjoying doing this so far – every day has been different, and we have the pleasure of helping and chatting to people from all walks of life.”

The Didcot branch opened for business on Christmas Day 2019. Mubaya took a stroke patient from Abingdon Community Hospital to her house for Christmas, where she spent four hours with family and was back in time for the medication round. Since then, the business has been growing steadily and the couple felt the time was right to have a high street presence so people could come and in and get to know them.

Kavuru said: “It’s a people business and so we want our customers to know that they can come in and have a chat and a cup of tea. Trust and reliability are completely integral to what we do, so we want people to know that we are here and approachable. We’re so much more than just a blue van!”