Steve Donnelly - People of O-town

I spent 27 years in gaol.... as a prison officer. I started in Goulburn, went to the Supreme Court in Sydney and then to Cessnock.

We lived on the Central Coast at the time, but my wife had double pneumonia twice. So, where we were living was no good for her and then the chance came up for me to transfer from Cessnock to Bathurst Gaol — that was around 20 years ago.

My mother-in-law bought a place out at Blayney that had a spare block of land on it, so we bought that and moved out here.

I retired in September 2013 and was sitting at home doing nothing. Then I heard from a friend of a friend of a friend that Live Better were looking for drivers and that was it — I volunteered.

If you've got the time, do it! It keeps your mind active and it keeps me from under the wife's feet, instead of sitting home vegetating. You get to know your people, you get to know what they want, what their needs are and every time you pick them up and take them to where they've got to go you make a difference.

These people are very limited in their mobility and would not be able to get anywhere unless they've got the transport, so I'm giving someone who can't get out the chance to get out.

It helps them out and helps me out by keeping me active.