Close to £1 million boost for Community Transport in Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire Association of Community Transport Organisations (PACTO) is celebrating a grant from the Motability Foundation of almost £1 million over three years to transform community transport in Pembrokeshire.

Photo Caption: The project team (from Left to Right), Wyndham Williams, Project Manager; Damian Golden, Accessible Car Coordinator; Jo Hicks, Transport Connector; Ruby Woods, Transport Connector.

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Community transport services in Pembrokeshire currently provide 45,000 journeys a year for 1400 people who would otherwise struggle with transport. However, services have developed organically over the past thirty years, with piecemeal project funding resulting in a patchwork of services and operators. This project provides a rare opportunity to review and reshape the community transport sector in Pembrokeshire to be more resilient, have stronger governance, share resources more effectively, and provide a more coherent and less fragmented set of services for people with mobility issues.

The funding will provide for five wheelchair accessible cars and four wheelchair accessible minibuses, to replace and expand the community transport fleet and running costs for services.

The objectives of the project are:

• To develop a clearly defined model for delivering community transport services in Pembrokeshire, which demonstrates better coordination of the resources we have, and better meets the needs of passengers.
• To support at least 500 passengers to access community transport services in Pembrokeshire for the first time.
• To triple the number of passenger journeys by wheelchair accessible car over the course of three years.
• To increase the number of passenger journeys on dial-a-ride services by 50% over the course of three years.
• To embed travel support and confidence building for people with extra mobility needs within the Pembrokeshire Community Hub, supporting at least 300 people by end of the project.

Lisa Jones, Director of Charitable Operations at the Motability Foundation, comments on the grant award: “We’re delighted to award Pembrokeshire Association of Community Transport Organisations (PACTO) with this grant to expand transport services across the county, so that disabled people and people with mobility issues have greater access to travel.

“This transport can be a lifeline to passengers, by supporting independent living, reducing isolation and improving access to services. PACTO will also be working with the Pembrokeshire Community Hub to embed travel support and confidence building, which is essential in enabling disabled people to live independently.

“Awarding grants to important local organisations like PACTO helps us to make an immediate difference to the transport needs of disabled people.”

 Caroline Wilson, Chair of Trustees at PACTO said “This is a rare and exciting opportunity for the CT sector in Pembrokeshire, and we look forward to making a huge difference for local people with mobility issues and sharing the lessons we learn for the benefit of the wider CT sector across the UK. We would like to thank the Motability Foundation for their support”.

Press Contact: Ady Poole, General Manager, PACTO (ady@pacto.org.uk 07553 500400)

(English and Welsh Speaker)

PACTO (Pembrokeshire Association of Community Transport Organisations) was established in 2004, to bring together, strengthen and represent the community transport sector in Pembrokeshire. We are a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee.

Community Transport services help people and groups who don't have access to their own transport and who don't have or can't use conventional public transport services.

About the Motability Foundation. The Motability Foundation is a registered charity set up in 1977. The Motability Foundation funds, supports, researches and innovates so that all disabled people can make the journeys they choose. We oversee the Mobility Scheme and provide grants to help people use it, providing access to transport to hundreds of thousands of people a year. We award grants to other charities and organisations that provide different types of transport, or work towards making transport accessible. We also carry out ongoing research, in partnership with disabled people and key stakeholders in the industry, to inspire innovations that continue to champion accessible transport for all. Motability operating as Motability Foundation.