REPRESENTATIVES from organisations across Monmouthshire have joined forces to tackle a lack of suitable public transport for vulnerable and isolated people at a project launch in Abergavenny.

The Community Transport Association has launched the project with a series of events across Wales including a gathering held at Abergavenny’s St Mary’s Priory Centre

The project has received funding through the Welsh Government Rural Communities - Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.

Gill Jones, coordinator of the Bridges Community Car Scheme, commented, ‘For the hundreds of isolated people that rely on the volunteer led service we provide, it is much more than a simple lift to the shops or a visit to the community centre.

‘But in order to support the growing number of people relying on our service, it is imperative we recruit more volunteer drivers across Monmouthshire and raise awareness of the need for such schemes across the county.

‘The Connecting Communities in Wales project will help us establish links with potential funding resources and partnering organisations that could benefit from community transport programmes.’

Local community transport providers as well as key stakeholders including older people welfare groups and social care representatives shared their views on the current gaps in provision across Monmouthshire.

The meeting heard that community transport services are especially important for those who are lonely and isolated. Transport services across Wales are diminishing, especially in rural areas, making it harder for people to access vital services and opportunities for employment.

CTA argues that the provision of community transport is essential as it provides much needed links and accessibility to those in need, whether it’s transport to GP and hospital appointments or lifts to the shops, help to get to interviews and places of work or to see friends and family to prevent isolation.

For many people across Wales, community transport, and the volunteers that provide such services, is the only way they are able to leave the house.

The provision of community transport differs across Wales, but some of the services currently available include:

Dial-a-ride – Services for those that find it difficult or impossible to access mainstream public transport and require the option to be collected from their door and assisted directly to their chosen destination. For older and isolated members of society, this offering provides essential human contact they might otherwise not receive.

Community Car Schemes – These schemes provide car journeys for people who face barriers to accessing other means of transport. Many of the drivers are volunteers and they might use their own car or a shared vehicle.

Wheels to work – A scooter hire scheme to support people (aged 17+) who are unable to get to work, school or college, with minimum costs. The programme provides the scooter, compulsory bike training certificate, the relevant safety gear where necessary and insurance.

Christine Boston, director of the Community Transport Association in Wales, said, ‘We want to encourage anyone who has an opinion on the existing state of the transport offered in Monmouthshire to share their opinions which will shape the future of the scheme.’

The Connecting Communities in Wales project will run until 2022 and during that time will work with community transport providers across Wales to engage new members and bolster services across the country.