The grant from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme will enable New Mills and District Volunteer Centre to continue and improve its work in providing transport assistance to housebound people living in the New Mills area.
The grant means the group can appoint a Transport Co-ordinator to help the current transport scheme to be improved and extended into deprived areas of the borough. The service, which has been going for more than 25 years, operates in a rural area where there is a lack of transport to essential services. Run by volunteers, the scheme is of particular benefit to people with mobility difficulties who are trying to attend outpatient appointments at hospital. The car scheme also offers days out, weekly trips, door to door pick up services and shopping trips for housebound people.
Dorothy Scapens, Centre Manager, said:
“We are absolutely delighted to get the money. We run a community car scheme that provides a service for disabled and older people who have mobility difficulties. They have difficulty in getting to doctors and hospital appointments. The problem is exacerbated because we live in a rural area. We use volunteer drivers and in the last year we did over 3,000 jobs. Some were for social activities and group activities that we hold here at the volunteer centre. We also run a weekly trip, Shop Around, using a specially adapted bus which takes people from their doorstep to local shopping centres, visiting a different town each week.”
Mick McGrath, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for the East Midlands, said:
“This Lottery grant means that more housebound people living in rural locations will be offered a vital service to get them to medical appointments or to the shops, things that many of us take for granted.”
