Wandsworth Community Transport

After nearly two difficult years in portacabins, the new Shopmobility at Sainsbury’s, Garratt Lane SW18 is now open and it is brilliant!

• A fully Accessible Shopping Shuttle
• Free use of mobility scooters and wheelchairs around the Town Centre
• Long term hire of mobility aids
• Training and assessment
• Outings
• Volunteers to help you get around

30^th Anniversary for Wandsworth Community Transport

 Wandsworth Community Transport celebrated its 30^th anniversary last week (on Thursday 3^rd July) with a party featuring the Wimbledon Rock Choir at the Wandsworth Civic Suite. The Deputy Mayor (Cllr Richard Field), Councillors, members of staff, users of the service and volunteers enjoyed a fantastic concert and celebrated 30 years of success for the organisation, which provides minibus transport for community groups and individuals who cannot use public transport.

The Rock Choir performed a number of contemporary classics, with plenty of audience participation, and everyone had a lot of fun. Singing is good for you and the crowds of smiling faces proved the point.

The Deputy Mayor presided over the event and in his speech paid glowing compliments to Wandsworth Community Transport’s fabulous achievement over so many years.

“It was great to see such an amazing turn out” said Managing Director Manuel Button “and to have the opportunity to say thank you to the Council that has supported us so well over so many years and which provided the venue free of charge.

The Civic Suite was jammed to the rafters and it was a joy to see all our members, supporters and volunteers having such fun. To see that level of support was the best tribute we could ever have been given and shows the power of our organisation, not to mention almost £1,500  raised at the event to go towards a new minibus. It shows what can be achieved by local people working together in partnership.”

Deputy Mayor Richard Field opens proceedings              

Wandsworth Community provides minibus transport for local organisations and its Shopmobilty service provides for some of the most isolated elderly and disabled people in the Borough, providing regular door-to-door shopping trips and trips out to the coast and places of interest.

Anyone who would like to find out more or to join the award winning team of volunteers, should call Manuel on 020 8675 7460.

Pictures provided by Chris Mikami at www.mikami.co.uk

See more on http://www.mikami.co.uk/p332306834

The latest newsletter includes details of our summer programme including the new long haul trips to destinations like Rye and Blenheim Palace, as well as all the old favourites. See the newsletter for full details (PDF) and to find out how to book.

Wandsworth Shopmobility were delighted last week to receive 6 state of the art mobility scooters and a wheelchair from the Mayor’s Olympic Legacy Project. They were used during the Olympics for disabled visitors to access the games and have now been passed on to voluntary organisations across the Capital.

“It is great to be part of the Olympic legacy” said Shopmobility Manager Marcia Millington, “especially as we were involved in running the accessible shuttles at the time and were great supporters of the whole event. It also means we now have some spare capacity and can loan out to people in the borough who want a scooter to have at home. The new scooters will keep us going for several years and the customers love them!”

The scooters were presented at an event at City Hall and the picture shows Marcia (on the right) with scooter user Joy Rogers, the Statutory Deputy Mayor of London, Victoria Borwick, and of course the inimitable mascot for the 2012 games, Wenlock!

Anyone wishing to take advantage of the new scooters or who needs transport or a volunteer to go shopping, should call Marcia on 020 8875 9585 to find out more. 

Background Information 

1. The 6 mobility scooters and one wheelchair were provided by the Mayor’s Olympic Legacy Project and delivered on 26^th April 2013.
2. Wandsworth Shopmobility is based at Sainsbury’s Supermarket Garratt Lane SW18, and is operated by Wandsworth Community Transport (WCT) and funded by Wandsworth Borough Council. They won the Queens Golden Jubillee Award in 2002.
3. Wandsworth Shopmobility provides electric scooters and manual wheelchairs along with volunteers to push them. It also runs a door-to-door accessible minibus service that takes elderly and disabled Wandsworth residents to the Town Centre.
4. WCT has over 1000 passenger members, and most of these regularly use their Shopmobility service. Latest figures show that more than 11,000 return passenger trips are completed each year. The 90 volunteers involved in the project, help by driving the minibuses and pushing wheelchairs etc.
5. WCT provides accessible minibuses to community groups and individuals in Wandsworth. In addition, WCT offers trips to elderly and disabled residents of the borough. Application forms for membership may be obtained by telephoning WCT on 020-8675 3812.

Every year Battersea Park Rotary Club put on a fantastic Christmas Day lunch for the elderly and disabled people of Wandsworth and every year WCT mobilises its entire fleet of minibuses to provide transport. We know from our many passengers who attend that it is incredibly important to them and that they put on a wonderful day.

Its a great example of the Big Society in action and something that all those who help should be proud of. In that spirit, I would like to add my personal congratulations and pay tribute to all our drivers who get involved. When many Community Transports have their minibuses locked in their yards on Christmas Day, all 25 of ours are out. That’s 25 of our drivers who volunteer to drive every Christmas Day, and I for one am mightily impressed.

So congratulations are definitely due all round and I look forward to the same again next year!

Manuel Button
Manging Director

Wandsworth Community Transport celebrated its 25th anniversary last week (on Tuesday 29th July) at a special reception held at the Wandsworth Civic Suite. The Mayor, Councillors, members of staff, users of the service and volunteers enjoyed a fun filled afternoon and celebrated 25 years of success for the organisation, which provides minibus transport for community groups and individuals who cannot use public transport.

Entertainment was provided by the Baked Bean Theatre Company, which works with people with learning disabilities and has used Community Transport minibuses since it was formed over 10 years ago. They presented some excerpts from their latest work “Space Up Your Life” which were so full of energy and fun that the rest of the afternoon was guaranteed to be a success.

The Mayor presided over the event and presented awards to several volunteers who had given outstanding service over many years.

“It was great to see such an amazing turn out” said Managing Director Manuel Button “and to have the opportunity to say thank you to the Council that have supported us so well over so many years, as well as to the volunteers that have made it all possible. From small acorns great oaks do grow, and I feel our organisation is a great example of this and of what can be achieved by local people working together in partnership.”

Wandsworth Community provides minibus transport for local organisations and its Shopmobilty service provides for some of the most isolated elderly and disabled people in the Borough, providing regular door-to-door shopping trips and trips out to the coast and places of interest.

Anyone who would like to find out more or to join the award winning team of volunteers, should call Manuel on 020 8675 3812.

Background Information

Wandsworth Community Transport (WCT) provides accessible minibuses to community groups and individuals in Wandsworth. In addition, WCT offers trips to elderly and disabled residents of the borough. Application forms for membership may be obtained by telephoning WCT on 020-8675 3812.

WCT vehicles are fitted with seat belts for every passenger, are fully accessible with taillifts for passengers with mobility difficulties and users of wheelchairs. Fully trained, caring drivers and, if necessary escorts are provided for all trips to ensure the maximum comfort for passengers.

WCT is funded by the local Council and is established to provide services that benefit disabled and elderly residents and local voluntary and community organisations in Wandsworth. WCT has been involved in providing these services since 1983.WCT runs Wandsworth Shopmobility, based at Sainsbury’s Supermarket on Garratt Lane, which provides, on loan and free of charge, powered scooters, electric or manual wheelchairs, and a volunteer escort, if necessary, to help anyone with a mobility problem.

Wandsworth Community Transport are delighted to report that their contract with the Council has been extended for another 5 years to 2013 and would like to take this opportunity to thank the Council for their continued support and trust.

“It’s great news for all our members” said Managing Director Manuel Button, “and we can promise that we will continue to deliver top quality services to the people of Wandsworth and take every opportunity to draw in additional funding and expand our range of services.

In particular we see door-to-door transport for elderly and disabled people as a growth area. Growing dissatisfaction with Dial-a-Ride and Taxi Card seems to be heading towards a system where other providers like ourselves are brought in to meet demand. We firmly believe that local demand met by local organisations provides a much better service and we think we have much to offer.

Regarding the future, the security of a 5 year contract will really help us develop our business plans, but remember, we rely on the people of Wandsworth (who are all our potential members) to tell us where the needs are and what we can do to help. We are always ready for a challenge and to solve new problems. School runs, social car schemes, plus buses, car sharing and specialised training are just a few additional areas we work in. We do much more than just hire out minibuses.

This was awarded to its Shopmobility Project and is another feather in the cap for this higly respected service.

“The credit is again mainly due to our marvellous team of volunteers, who look after our elderly and disabled passengers, pushing wheelchairs, giving a helping arm, and loading the shopping trolleys” said Shopmobility Manager Marcia Millington.

“But what makes them special is the extra they give, which is so much more than just helping people with their shopping! For many of our passenegrs, their weekly trip out is the only time they get out from within the prison of their four walls, and the friendship, care and company they receive from their regular volunteers makes a huge difference in their lives. Many develop long lasting relationships which go far beyond the basic requirements of helping them shop, and it is this level of extra attention that has made our volunteers worthy winners of this award for “Outstanding Customer Care.”

Wandsworth Community Transport is also particularly pleased to receive recognition as a “Business”. For too long the voluntary sector has been perceived as well meaning amateurs who try their best to help. This is far from the case. We are the new breed of Social Enterprises that compete in the open market to provide the highest level of services, whilst still promoting equality of opportunity for staff, volunteers and service users. All the money we get, be it from grant, contract or donation, goes to make us the best rather than to pay shareholders – and it shows!