“Pete is one of our valued minibus drivers who has worked at Ability for 2 years now. He is loved by all our passengers for always being his cheerful and chatty self no matter what day it is. Its never a dull moment with Pete, and the passengers always look forward to their journeys with him for his great sense of humour and his readiness to have a laugh with the passengers!

Most importantly, Pete is always willing to go the extra mile for his passengers. This photo shows Pete helping one of our members with her shopping, which he always offers to carry to the front door should any of the passengers need a helping hand. Outside of hours, he is always happy help to out, be that tending to the buses to ensure they are well maintained, delivering vital food parcels to vulnerable people during lockdown, or returning forgotten items and shopping left on the buses.

The personal time Pete dedicates to Ability and our passengers is commendable. We’d like Pete to know that we value his time greatly and look forward to many more years working together.”

“At the height of the pandemic only one passenger at any time could be transported on board our minibuses, so not to increase the likelihood of transmitting the virus.  With all the various centres and homes closed, that meant that the level of users travelling had significantly been reduced, and therefore, drivers were not always as engaged as pre-coronavirus.

We have chosen this picture that represents BCT simply because it shows a togetherness, notwithstanding social distancing of course. For us, what is behind the picture is the support they gave to each other. Keeping physically active and mentally alert at the depot whilst waiting for a job to come up, was a test of their character, mental awareness and strength as they overcame fatigue.

Not even the searing heat of the sun, and the proper adherence of the Covid-19 guidelines can deter theses dedicated worker from delivering a vital service. We will not be deflected by the sun or covid-19, from the task in hand and that is to keep Dial a Ride operating and tackle social isolation for some of the most vulnerable people in our community.”

“Community Transport Waltham Forest was approached in March 2021 by London Borough Waltham Forest who were looking for an appropriate vehicle to establish a mobile vaccine center.  After careful evaluation of our fleet, it was decided that our Mellor bus was the most appropriate as the low ramp at the rear of the vehicle, the low floor and front access offered a walk-through facility.  We allocated a regular driver to the service Arshad Ali so that the engagement team could establish a relationship with the driver. Arshad forms an important part of the team and is very good at encouraging residents to take up the vaccine, he also speaks 2 community languages which has proved very helpful to the team.  The bus cannot be missed with the impressive wrapping and messaging. It is anticipated that the service will continue to operate whilst the vaccine roll out continues.

“I am pleased with the success of the partnership between the Council and ourselves to support all the efforts to bring the pandemic to an end” Dr Sabir Bham, the Chair of Community Transport Waltham Forest said, “the bus is very noticeable and I have come across the service in a range of venues in Waltham Forest.”

By creating a Waltham Forest vaccination bus, we’ve been able to take vaccines directly to our residents. Whether that be our homeless communities, at our housing estates or local schools – it’s helped us get more people vaccinated. By branding it in our #Ihadmyjab campaign and deploying our engagement team’s out alongside the bus, we’ve been able to engage with residents and sustain a high profile across our borough.”

“2020 will be remembered as the year when everything changed for generations to come, due to the Coronavirus pandemic.  Whilst most of UK stood still, the community transport sector continued to do what it always does – serve the community.

New ways of working we’re quickly introduced, which transformed the way services were delivered.  For the team at CT4N Charitable Trust, this meant quickly adapting to help people in genuine need – the elderly, the disabled and those having to isolate. It was a difficult time for lots of people and for different reasons.  Even in our darkest hour, there were small glimpses of light and new relationships started to develop.

In December, our Charity Co-ordinator, Elaine Allitt came up with an idea to help some of our most vulnerable customers and suggested that we asked our colleagues, our friends, and our families for donations to provide a number of food hampers, which would be distributed just before Christmas.

The attached photo shows Elaine delivering one of our hampers to Easylink customers Arthur and Elma, who had been isolating during the pandemic.  This small gesture can make all the difference to people, who we know can sometimes feel forgotten at Christmas, which can be an extremely difficult at the best of times, but none of us have ever experienced anything like Christmas 2020.

Community transport is more than just a bus service to help get people from A to B -it’s about people and the little extras can make a huge difference.  Whether it’s a listening ear, or offering to collect some shopping, we feel this photo captures the heart of community transport at its very best – serving the community.”

“This is John, a 93-year-old man who up until about 6 years ago, would still ride his push bike for miles around town every day. In the summer of 2016, John came to the conclusion that he could no longer continue to ride his bike due to his deteriorating health. This is when he became a member with us here at Dial A Ride.

Since joining as a member, John has only missed a handful of his two weekly trips to his local Post Office and Co-Operative store, even in the height of the pandemic! In this picture, we see John being accompanied by Dave, one of our excellent drivers, to attend his first vaccination appointment at his local clinic back in January of this year. John was the first of many members that we took to get their Covid-19 jabs.

John lives alone in a semi-rural area just a few miles away from the nearest town and as he has no family members living locally and is no longer fit enough to get himself there on his bike, he relies heavily on us. We have proven to be a lifeline for not only John, but so many others in a similar position to him, especially over the last eighteen months.

We don’t just provide our members with transport, we provide them with somebody to talk, laugh or even cry with. Our drivers become a very big part of our members’ lives by supporting, assisting and comforting them and any needs they may have. This picture is just one example of the astonishing work we do day in, day out to ensure that the needs of our members are always met.”

“This photo shows passengers Dennis and Pat Wilson, with their guide dog Beryl just in view, and HcL driver Neil Young. Neil had taken Dennis and Pat, both long-term service users of HcL, to North Berwick (in East Lothian, Scotland) for a wee trip out in June. They were very lucky with the weather, particularly for Scotland, and Beryl enjoyed a dip in the sea and Neil, Dennis and Pat enjoyed a 99 cone from the ice cream van found at the sea front.

Both Dennis and Pat value the support that HcLs services provide, in particular the door-through-door element of the service. As Dennis and Pat are both registered blind, a key aspect of the service for them, is that they are helped from inside their front door, guided up their path to the pavement and then up the steps into the vehicle. At their chosen destination they are guided and supported off the vehicle, and into their destination with Beryl at their side. We know our drivers make our service – the level of care and attention they provide our passengers with, the chats and the banter on the journey, understanding how they may feel – whether it is anxiety on their first trip with us or to their vaccine appointment; or if it is sadness and grief for a journey to a funeral; or whether it is enjoying an outing. For many, the social interactions are a hugely important part of the service.

So much of community transport is about practical day-to-day trips such as taking people to medical appointments, treatment at hospital, or to the supermarket; it is lovely to support passengers on a day such as the seaside. Community transport is about community: meeting others; accessing facilities and amenities; experiencing nature and all it offers; locally.”

“The picture shows our driver Owen McBride delivering meals to longstanding members Peggy and Francis McLaughlin as part of our Meals WITHIN Wheels service.

We believe this picture represents the spirit of community transport because not only are we here to provide transport to essential services, there are so many indirect benefits our members have experienced since the start of the pandemic with the introduction of our alternative services, Grocery & Prescription Delivery, Meals WITHIN Wheels Dinner Delivery Service, Transport to Covid Vaccine Centres and our Check-in Calls.  Being associated with Out and About offers a “lift” in many forms! Here’s Peggy and Francie’s heart-warming story behind the photo:

Peggy had a fall at home in February 2021 but was so frightened to go get checked out for fear of catching Covid that she was in total agony for days. When Owen showed up to deliver their dinners, he noticed that Peggy was not herself. He made a call to Gillian in the office, who had been checking in with Francie and Peggy since lockdown to see how they were and to get their meal orders.  Gillian managed to coax Peggy to see her Doctor and arranged the transport.  She was sent directly to the hospital where she was admitted with a broken hip and underwent major surgery.  Owen waited and transported Francie back home from the hospital that evening.  Francie found it difficult while Peggy was rehabilitating in hospital so our calls kept him upbeat, there was a running joke he’d need to keep the house well cleaned for Peggy getting home.  Peggy has returned home and is recovering well, they are still enjoying having their dinners delivered plus having a bit of crack with Owen on the doorstep.”

“This is a photograph taken in May 2020 showing the deep cleaning that took place after every journey during the height of the first wave of the pandemic.

Those who volunteered to work throughout the pandemic set about the task willingly, with great spirit and determination. People needed to get out and they needed us in order to do so safely. We knew that we had to take all precautions possible to keep everyone safe and we cleaned and we cleaned and we cleaned…all hard surfaces, the floor, the windows…everything, every time!

We set up a cleaning area on a part of our site with easy access to our outside water supply and to our cleaning supplies which we kept in a garage and we developed an efficient safe system for turning buses around between journeys.

Each person did their own cleaning, enhanced by the efforts of some others who stayed on site to help with further cleaning.

Jocelyne in the photo had just completed a journey and was cleaning her bus before taking it out again for the next journey.

The buses were so clean that even the buses themselves inspired confidence in those travelling.

It seemed that the Sun was always shining. Every day seemed to be as in the photo – beautiful clear blue skies. It felt like the weather was doing its best to help us!

We forgot what people’s faces looked like behind all that PPE! Even eyes were covered as we understood that eyes were a potential entry point for the virus.

Nothing was shared – other than a close bond.

And it worked! We provided thousands of safe essential journeys for extremely vulnerable passengers … And we all came through … smiling … happy … exhausted!”

“The photo is of Marcus, one of several WCT drivers who stepped up to volunteer, taking a very grateful Mr Khonboker to get his Covid vaccination.  When not doing vaccine runs we were very pleased to work with Age UK delivering their very welcome food parcels  to residents in the Borough who were, in many cases, unable to source vital basic provisions during the early days of the pandemic. Our Shopmobility unit at Sainsbury’s Southside also went into action – taking telephone orders, doing the shopping and delivering goods to housebound residents  unable to get delivery slots or use the internet. All in all we were pleased to be part of a very well organised group of volunteers and organisations that joined seamlessly together to care for those who needed help in the Borough.”