For DART driver and trainer Brian Connolly, helping people is the core reason he forsakes his warm bed on winter mornings to be out on the road before 8am.
Brian, who is 73 and has worked with DART for almost seven years, says the job satisfaction he derives from playing his part in the community more than makes up for any minor inconveniences such as early starts and frozen windscreens.
Like many of DART's drivers, Brian has a wealth of working and lived experience behind him.
He spent the first 30 years of his career in the insurance industry, working his way up from office clerk to manager in a well-known insurance broker's.
In 1996, he opted to take voluntary redundancy, primarily to care for his mother who had suffered a stroke.
"I was unhappy too at the way the industry was going. There was less of a personal touch whereas I enjoyed dealing with people, so the time was right for me to go," he explains.
When his mum went into a nursing home following a second stroke, Brian decided it was time to rejoin the workforce.
He successfully applied to Translink and spent 20 years as a bus driver and inspector in Belfast.
Yet again, it was the people aspect of the job he enjoyed most.
"You have to be able to get on with people and you need a bit of a thick skin!" he jokes.
After retiring when he was 65, Brian enjoyed a year of relaxing, going to the gym and walking the dog, before receiving some shocking news.
"I felt better and fitter than I had ever done but that all fell down around me when I was diagnosed with cancer," he says.
The Moira man had been suffering symptoms of what he believed was irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) but a colonoscopy confirmed it was stage 2 bowel cancer.
Fortunately, it was caught just in time and following surgery and six months of chemotherapy he was given the all-clear.
Keen to get back to work again and keep himself active, he succesfully applied to be a driver with DART and started work in January 2018. He hasn't looked back since.
"It ticks all the boxes for me," he says. "I enjoy driving, meeting people and helping the community so it keeps me active physically and mentally.
"I do it because I feel I make a difference to people's lives and that give me great job satisfaction. The money I earn is a bonus but it's not the main factor."
Brian is also a driver assessor trainer with DART, putting volunteer drivers for various community groups through the required practical and written tests, enabling them to take to the roads safely and legally.
A father-of-two, grandfather-of-six and long-time partner to Gillian, Brian also volunteers as a telephone buddy for Macmillan Cancer Support, offering advice and support to people in the most difficult of times.
"It's about giving back to a charity who were there for me when I needed them," he adds.
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