JEANETTE Morgan has seen her son Jonathan blossom since he has been volunteering at a snack kiosk on the platform at Droitwich Station.

Jonathan, aged 26 who has physical and learning disabilities, has been going along to Snax on Trax one morning a week for the past eight years and the experience has helped to transform his life.

She said he first went along because he likes trains but now really enjoys all aspects of the volunteering at the kiosk.

“He loves it,” says Jeannette. “He has been just so happy to go there. It has given him loads of confidence and really brought him out of himself. He never used to be able to cope with crowds and interact properly.”

Jonathan, who does not speak, also attends the Kingsfield Day Care Centre in Droitwich and Jeanette said, he felt so safe and happy at the station kiosk.

“He served drinks and snacks just like anyone else would do. The staff just watched over him. This is the first time he had done anything where he was involved with the public.”

She said he also became very popular in the town through his volunteering at the station. “Jonathan has become very popular in Droitwich through working at the station. Everyone knows him now and we cannot go into town without people acknowledging him.

“He loves it and feels accepted and that he belongs. He especially loves it when the young ladies stop to say hello,” says Jeanette.

But last month the volunteers received a bitter blow when they were told the Snax on Trax kiosk , which helps to integrate 30 disabled people at a time into the community, would close on March 28 due to lack of funding.

The Snax on Trax kiosk, which has opened from 7am to 6pm six days a week, has been running for 15 years and with funding from Worcestershire County Council. It was managed by Worcestershire Lifestyles.

The council said the funding finished in 2014 but it gave money for an extra year to give Worcestershire Lifestyles more time to find other financial support. Unfortunately no alternative funding was found.

Jeanette said the volunteers and their families were devastated when they were told of the closure. “The tears were heartbreaking. It was a big blow. I do not think Jonathan understood. I was very upset. I cried.”

She said her son’s whole week revolved around going to Snax on Trax. “He knows what he does the day before and the day after. It is going to upset his whole routine. He does not deal with change well.

“Volunteering one morning a week does not seem a lot to anyone else but it is a huge part of his life, he really looked forward to it and he loved the trains as well.”

She said the changes would be hard for Jonathan to deal with. “He can get very frustrated. After all the progress he has made, I don’t want it to dwindle. We all want our children – with or without disability - to live happily and be fulfilled. As a parent I feel it is all slipping away.”

A spokesman for Worcestershire County Council said "Worcestershire Lifestyles is making arrangements for those volunteers affected by the closure of Snax on Trax. A new Learning Disability Connect Service will be functioning from Droitwich Library very shortly, providing opportunities to explore volunteering and employment prospects as well as other social and leisure activities."