Mr Prentice, chairman and treasurer of the Holsworthy Rural Community Transport Association, attended the Bude Community Network Panel meeting on Monday, July 11, to give an insightful talk on the voluntary service he offers, which has proven to be vital to members of the community.
Holsworthy Rural Community Transport is a registered, non-profitable charity, providing transport to those who are unable to access a car or form of transport, or find it difficult to do so.
Although the service isn’t age related, it is currently mainly used by elderly people, and can provide transport for individuals to go shopping, meet with friends, go to the hospital or local medical centre, and more.
The charity was set up in 1999 and has a board of trustees that meet every six to eight weeks with three client representatives, giving feedback to the board about those that use the service.
Currently, there are four drivers, one escort and two part-time office staff within the charity, and it very much relies on volunteers to help achieve their aim.
Currently covering half of the Torridge district, the Ring and Ride scheme is a door-to-door service for people with no car or access to transport in deeply rural areas.
The vehicles used for this are equipped with devices to deal with wheelchairs, and can take short journeys for such things as shopping purposes, or long journeys for trips out.
Mr Prentice said: “The service has been well used and well received, and an awful lot of people depend on it. It helps those that are often stuck in their homes, and encourages them to socialise, meet friends and stay active.
“We are very dependent on people volunteering; each journey costs 45p per mile, so it is understandable when people would rather not drive somewhere and have to wait for a long time to take them back again, just for 45p per mile.”
The use of mini buses has also rocketed, with community groups such as Scouts, the WI and more organisations using the service for group trips.
After his explanation of the service, Mr Prentice put it to the panel to consider whether Bude and the surrounding area requires this service, and is keen to hear feedback to determine the result.
A spokesperson from Week St Mary parish explained how the service has been used in his village, with residents being taken to Okehampton, Atlantic Village and Paignton.
He said: “What I’d like to say is that our parishioners are using it and are finding it very useful.”
Members of Morwenstow Parish Council also added that they would be very interested in the provision of the service, having been looking into a service like this for years.
With a high number of elderly citizens in their village, there is currently no form of transport to take some parishioners to the hospital or to their local medical centre, and it is felt by Morwenstow that the service would be extremely beneficial to their local community.
It wouldn’t be possible for the service to be provided straight away, as volunteers to be drivers would first have to come forward, as well as counting numbers and providing cars to the correct areas.
Mr Prentice said: “I now need some feedback from the panel, or an expressed interest in the service. I need to know that the service is wanted in the area so then we can weigh up the capacity.
“It’s all very up in the air at the moment, we need to add up numbers to see if we can provide transport for other areas.”