Celebrating Delivery of a New Community Minibus in North Cornwall
Published on 01 March 2018 01:37 PM
Celebrating Delivery of a New £69,000 Community Minibus in North Cornwall
A North Cornwall-based charity is celebrating after taking delivery of a brand-new £69,000 community minibus.
Concern Wadebridge, which supports people over 50 and/or have a disability, was the only community transport group in Cornwall to receive a grant from the Department for Transport during the second round of applications.
It is a 16-seater wheelchair accessible Renault Master which will be used by the centre, based at The John Betjeman centre, for regular day trips for everything from cream teas and Sunday lunches to further afield to Bridgewater Carnival and Clarks Village.
The new minibus already provides a weekly community bus service around Wadebridge every Tuesday helping to people to go into town to do their shopping or attend appointments. The vehicle is also available for all local community groups to use including sports clubs and residential homes.
Concern Wadebridge manager Andy Lyle said: “We are delighted with our new minibus. It will mean that more people will benefit from our services and trips out.“We would like to thank everyone for their support with this application including Cornwall Council, MP Scott Mann, Wadebridge School and of course all our volunteer drivers who give up their time for free. We are always looking for more volunteer drivers so if you have any spare time and would like to help the local community please give us a call or pop in for a chat.”
Concern Wadebridge launched its new minibus at a special volunteers party which saw more than 50 people enjoy a lunch and activities.
Wadebridge Mayor Adrian Jones, who is also a regular driver of the community town service, officially handed over the keys.
He said: “It is fantastic that Concern Wadebridge has been able to add this new minibus to their fleet. The previous buses could be a little tricky for people to get onboard. The new bus includes an ease-of-access step, complete with handles that make climbing on and off so much easier, so no wonder our passengers give the bus a big thumbs-up, and call the step “the red carpet treatment.”
He continued: “Some parts of town are not very forgiving for driving larger vehicles, but the reversing camera really helps us volunteer drivers negotiate some tight turns. Well done to Andy Lyle and the team at Concern Wadebridge for helping to develop great community transport options for local people.”