Community Car Scheme

Door to Door Transport - Car Care Scheme

Voluntary Action for Oadby & Wigston run a local car care scheme which provides transport for people who have difficulty accessing public transport.

The Car Care Scheme is well patronised by many residents of Oadby & Wigston. Enquiries to register come from individuals or their families and from other organisations, such as Age Concern, Oadby & Wigston Council and Social Services. Clients must declare what their mobility problems are and why they are experiencing difficulty getting to various destinations. It is impossible to visit all the clients who register, so the scheme relies on clients’ honesty backed up by a telephone discussion. The scheme is not means tested and the decision whether to accept a new client rests with VAOW and that decision is based on the confidential information declared.

The volunteer drivers work according to their own availability and capabilities, the type of car they have, whether they can take a wheelchair etc. and the journeys that have been requested by the clients are then allocated to them. On busy days some drivers can do 20-25 passenger journeys! All the volunteers go through the standard application procedure used at Voluntary Action plus an Enhanced CRB check.

The scheme is immensely popular with currently over 300 clients. Because of the numbers of people wishing to join the scheme it has become oversubscribed, and we have had to temporarily stop taking on new customers. There is a waiting list of about 20 people, and we are hoping to reopen very soon. All our drivers are volunteers and we are always looking for, and recruiting new ones. The number of clients we can provide a service for depends entirely on the number of volunteers we have. There are currently 28 drivers on our books, some driving as much as five days per week, others just half a day per week, and some helping out in emergencies. Each one is equally valuable and important to us, regardless of the amount of time they are able to give.

Every week up to 400 journeys are undertaken, that’s around 20,000 per year covering 82,000 miles. These figures are an increase (again!) on the previous year’s figures of 18,000 journeys and 80,000 miles). The majority are to and from destinations within Oadby and Wigston, but many are to other areas of Leicester. Without the scheme clients would have difficulty getting to the doctors, dentists, chiropodists, luncheon clubs, hairdressers, hospital outpatient appointments, shopping, and to visit their friends.

We have been granted additional funds for the scheme for the coming financial year so that we can put into place our plans to increase our administrative support, purchase a new multi-passenger vehicle, and undertake a major driver recruitment exercise.

I would like to express my personal thanks to our team of volunteer drivers, whose constant help and support enhances the quality of life of hundreds of people in Oadby and Wigston.

Dave Williams

For further enquires please speak to either Dave Williams – Social Car Scheme Co-ordinator or Emma Lyon - Assistant telephone (0116) 2880508 (out of hours answerphone) or by email.

Email: car.scheme@vaow.org.uk

Office opening times 9.30am – 12.30pm Monday to Friday

Interested in Volunteering?

Please visit the Community Car Scheme Volunteer Page