‘EnAble Thetford’ Needs Help

A group of volunteers called EnAble Thetford has been funded by the People’s Health Trust with money raised through local health lotteries and supported by the Royal Voluntary Service. Over the last two years they have used some of this funding to help local people access a more user-friendly transport option by subsidising a local taxi voucher scheme so that they could get out to health appointments, do their shopping and attend wellbeing activities, when other transport options, such as buses, were not practicable. This funding is running out and we are looking for local support to enable this valuable service to carry on. The group spent time engaging with residents to see what they wanted and the overriding issue that came up was the lack of a Community Transport Scheme in the town. These schemes use volunteer drivers to offer cost effective localised transport solutions to those that cannot access public transport and who cannot afford taxis. There are many of these schemes across the county but not in Thetford so ‘EnAble Thetford’ set up the taxi voucher scheme with LJ’s Taxis, the only service in Thetford to offer wheelchair accessible transport, to see if residents would use the scheme. It has been an overwhelming success with over 50 people using the scheme on a regular basis who would otherwise be house bound. Due to Covid the numbers have obviously reduced but could potentially increase significantly. One resident said: “It’s lovely to have some freedom to go where I want, when I want”. ‘EnAble Thetford’ are kindly asking that the Council and local businesses help to support the taxi voucher scheme so local residents, who would otherwise be house-bound, can still get out and about in the future. It costs around £5,000 a year to run and we are in urgent need of funding to help sustain the running costs of the voucher

A wheelchair accessible taxi provided by LJ’s

scheme as the support from the RVS and its funding partners comes to an end. Quite simply, without the scheme, these residents will lose this small amount of independence, the cheery contact with the taxi drivers they’ve come to know and rely on, and be unable to support local shops and businesses, nor get to health appointments. If you could support us, please contact Linda Hunter for further details.

Linda Hunter Linda.Hunter@royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk John Oliver October 2021 Ad.qxp_Layout 1 27/08/2021 Mobile – 07442 505603

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