Transporting Sick Children with Marie-Anne Eckersall

In the tenth episode of Season 12 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast, host Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe speaks with Marie-Anne Eckersall, Fundraising and Communications Co-ordinator at Transport for Sick Children, a small charity founded in 1977 that provides volunteer-led transport to children’s hospital appointments. Marie-Anne shares how volunteering on her children’s school PTA sparked her move from a corporate career into the VCSE sector, and how she grew her part-time role after joining in 2019. She explains that success means supporting as many children as possible by recruiting volunteer drivers (about 35 currently), especially in areas including North Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Bolton, and Bury. The conversation covers the charity’s impact on families facing financial hardship or new to the UK, post-COVID rebuilding, 2026 plans, and ways individuals and businesses can help through driving, donations, trustee expertise, and skills-based volunteering.Did you know:  ·     Across the UK, 8-10% of children have a long term health condition.·     In Greater Manchester, approximately 65,000-75,000 children and young people are estimated to have a long-term health condition.·     Specialist facilities like the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital manage over 160,000 children’s outpatient appointments annually.Key resource: Transport for Sick Children Time stamps of key moments in the podcast episode & transcript: (01:52) PTA spark story(03:06) Joining the charity(04:19) Success and drivers(05:31) Family impact stories(07:55) Challenges and motivation(09:54) Future plans (12:38) How you can help(17:58) Signature questions 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or www.meetthemancunian.co.uk#Manchester #SocialImpact #Podcast #Transport #SickChildren