Community Transport Christmas: Community Transport Glasgow

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Community Transport Glasgow provide affordable accessible transport throughout the entire year to groups around Glasgow but nothing gets all the staff happier than the run up to the festivities! Within the office we over indulge in Santa hats, reindeer ears, decorations galore and we’re never short of a carol or two after eating all the chocolates!

We love hearing the stories and seeing pictures of every group outing to see the Christmas lights, visiting Santa and his team of helpers, ice-skating in George Square or festive meals out. One organisation we provide support for is the Glasgow Christmas Lights Transport team. They told us that the switch on of the Christmas lights wouldn’t be the same “without the festive fellows who provide the assisted transport for our visitors. Cheery and helpful always!”

Another group that we have the privilege of providing transport for every Christmas is ENABLE Glasgow, a membership organisation working with people with learning disabilities, their carers, and other supporters to ensure they have best possible opportunities to get the most from life. This year we’re going to be taking their service users to go on their annual trip to Greenock Beacon Arts Centre for the Christmas Pantomime. Karen, Enable Glasgow’s Social Coordinator, told us “this has always been a great experience, booking is always straightforward and the office staff are very helpful, the drivers have always been amazing with our service users and support our volunteers and staff on every trip. It makes a huge difference when organising outings to know that we have a reliable and local service for all of our transport needs.”

We also have the privilege of providing transport to older adults to get them to their medical appointments over Christmas, which of course over the winter months can be difficult. The Christmas festivities, unfortunately, do not keep away any health worries or medical appointments. With our Healthy Journeys project, we and with a lot of help from our amazing volunteers, ensure that these are made as stress free as possible. When life is tough, we know that the last thing that you want to worry about is transport and getting from A to B. One passenger warmed our hearts with a card saying thank you to us and said “This service has been a godsend since my husband passed away. I wouldn’t have been able to manage without you. Thank you so much. The drivers are so kind and helpful and I don’t know how I would have made it to my appointments, particularly in the winter months without you.” We love giving feedback to our drivers and volunteers and of course reading the Christmas Cards that arrive.

This year, we are planning a Christmas event to bring together all our groups, local people and of course staff and volunteers. We are going to host a tea/coffee get together for a natter, some cake, little auction, raffle and even a little fun stall with bits and pieces for sale. The idea of this is to bring the community together and all are welcome.