An award-winning transport charity serving the communities of parts of Worcestershire, Shropshire and Herefordshire has issued an urgent plea for more drivers with staff being ‘run off their wheels’ due to unprecedented demand.
Tenbury Transport Trust has seen a huge increase in membership with the number of people signing up to take advantage of its scheme and has developed new partnerships with local organisations, with more in the pipeline.
Its ongoing success recently saw the trust host a barbecue for volunteers, partners and friends to say thank you for all their hard work during a frenetic year – which has also resulted in the winning of three awards!
Tenbury Transport Trust, based in Tenbury Wells, has served the local community for more than 10 years, providing a safe, professional, service for people who don’t have adequate transport of their own.
Wendy White, Chair of Trustees, said: “It’s been absolutely manic since January and we are delighted that more and more people are discovering and using us to support the transport needs of our community in a location which has little or no public transport.
“It’s been an unprecedented year and really busy. We have had over 70 new clients and developed new working partnerships with Kyrebrook Daycare Centre and Haresbrook Park Care Home. We are always keen to welcome new partners and there will be more to follow shortly.
“News of our award wins was amazing and reflects the professionalism and care which comes as standard from our volunteers and staff.
“We recently held a barbecue at the Green Meal on Oldwood Common, to say thank you to all those people who work so hard for the continued success of the trust and to help support our community.
“About 40 attended, volunteers, partners and friends of the trust. It was the ideal opportunity for us to show our appreciation to those people who have really been run off their wheels over the course of the year and were so instrumental in our awards success.”
Wendy continued to explain about the successful development of the charity.
“Since January we have had a new management team in place and our office is really buzzing. We have welcomed two lovely people who have joined us as office volunteers but the one thing we are short of is drivers to meet the increasing demand and we would love to hear from anyone with a few hours to spare who would like to drive for us. Volunteers use their own cars for which they receive a mileage allowance or they can drive one of our minibuses on our regular bus routes.
“One of our highly valued minibus drivers, Suzy Pitt, a volunteer driver on our school contract, has recently resigned and will be greatly missed. We took the opportunity at the BBQ to present her with some flowers and wish her well in the future. She was a much-valued member of our team and we need someone to help fill that void.”
“The trust now has so many clients that the need for more car and minibus drivers has become an important issue,” she added. “We have launched a recruitment drive and would love to hear from anyone with time on their hands, would like to put something back into their community and work with a highly motivated team who really enjoy what they do. Drivers wanting to volunteer to drive the mini-buses must have the D1 category on their licence.”
She also said the trust had an eye to the future and alternatively powered vehicles.
“We are mindful about the environment and originally looked into the idea of electric minibuses in 2020. There are more options now for ‘greening up the fleet’ so we are keeping a watchful eye on progress.
“All the current research suggests that while it’s alright for cars, the infrastructure locally is not yet in place for bigger vehicles like minibuses, particularly when taking into account the terrain around Tenbury.
“We are keen to play our part in the green revolution and are following developments very closely with a view to changing our fleet when the time is right.”
For further information about Tenbury Transport Trust, how to volunteer or become a client, visit http://www.tttrust.org.uk/, call 01584 810491 or pop in and see the team at the office in Teme Street Tenbury Wells.
