Community Transport aims to create a better everyday life for local people. Most of us have spent more time at home in the last twelve months. Imagine if this was permanent and you had no means of visiting the shops, visiting friends or taking part in community life. Providing the means to travel to those things that we all value is at the heart of what Community Transport (CT) delivers in providing accessible transport. It does this across the West Midlands and NE of England, for those experiencing disability or limited mobility, ensuring older members of the community in particular have access to services, and to have independence and choice. It supports this charitable activity through the sale of donated furniture items from a number of shops in the two regions in which it operates. The impact of providing accessible transport ensures that people can leave their home and socialise with others, reducing loneliness and isolation, and ensuring that services are accessible, irrespective of the ability to use conventional modes of travel. In 19/20 CT supported 145,362 passenger trips, travelling a total of 850,800 miles and achieved satisfaction rates of 98.8%. In supporting accessible transport, CT also diverted 924 tonnes of used furniture from landfill, providing household items to those experiencing financial exclusion.
CT provides accessible transport using a fleet of 47 accessible minibuses based in the West Midlands and NE. The service is very much door to door rather than kerb to kerb, and responds to the needs of individual passengers. A regular, trained and experienced driver greets each passenger, and provides interaction from the doorstep and throughout the whole journey, assisting with access to and from the vehicle, whether on foot or using a wheelchair. This enables individuals to leave their home and interact with others, remain as mobile as possible and to access medical appointments, or simply to make their own shopping choices. This helps people to remain in their home for longer and delay the need for social care. Supporting this, CT collects items of donated furniture and sells those items from 7 shops and using a fleet of 14 goods vehicles. Items are provided at affordable prices for local families on lower incomes, as well as being sold through different channels to raise income to support charitable accessible transport services. CT also has a small training division, supporting professional minibus driving skills development and allowing smaller community groups to access affordable transport for their service users, driven by their own volunteer drivers.
