Community transport threat: Why Friendly and Dial-a-Ride services are so important
A pensioner who relies on community transport felt so strongly about the proposed cuts that she wrote to Shropshire Council.
Her letter will be distributed to councillors when they come to consider the issue on Monday.
This is the text of her letter:
"I am writing with regards to the proposed cuts in funding for the Friendly Bus Service, Broseley.
"This service operates a vital need to the community of our town and without it many of our elderly and vulnerable residents would become extremely isolated.
"I personally use them six days a week to visit my husband, who unfortunately suffered a second stroke two years ago and is in a nursing home.
"Without the staff and wonderful generosity of these drivers I would not be able to visit him, which no doubt would have an adverse effect on him also.
See also:
Licence changes could force Dial-a-Ride services to fold
"As a lady in my 70s without children, I rely on being able to call upon this service to attend doctor and hospital appointments, as does my older sister.
"I find being on my own and having very limited socialising opportunities the lifeline this group offers with local shopping trips is also imperative to people in my situation.
"With the Government saying people are living longer that may be, but the quality of life would be all the more poorer without the local service you propose to cut.
"I sincerely hope you will reconsider your proposal and leave people like me a crumb of life to hold onto."
Community groups
The Department for Transport consultation on the issue of licences ends on May 4 with the results unlikely to be made public until the Autumn.
Community transport groups operate in Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Ludlow, Church Stretton, Broseley and Bridgnorth.
Each week they transport hundreds of people who would otherwise be forced to pay out for expensive taxis or simply not venture out at all.
People who may not be able to use public transport or do not have access to public transport can use the service.
The aim of the service is to help people get to events and activities such as music, theatre, sport and festivals and schools and other organised not-for-profit organisations such as the Women’s Institute, the Scouts and youth clubs.
The buses and cars are all suitable for wheelchair users and each bus has a passenger assistant on board to help people get on and off the bus, carry shopping bags, secure wheelchairs, chat to passengers and help with navigation.
Shrewsbury Dial-a-Ride operates within a 10 mile radius of Shrewsbury centre, the Ludlow Traveller operates along the Clun Valley, around Clee Hill, Tenbury and Ludlow and the Corvedale Buzzard operates around Craven Arms, Ludlow, Much Wenlock and Bridgnorth.
In Oswestry the minibuses operate within a 10 mile radius of the town, Monday-Friday 9am-4pm.
In Church Stretton, the service is called Ring and Ride and takes members to supermarkets in Craven Arms and Ludlow as well as to groups, societies and appointments.
The Friendly Transport Service, also known as The Friendly Bus has been operating since 2002, providing transport for a rural community in and around Broseley and Much Wenlock.
