Buckland Newton

Neighbourhood

Car Scheme and

‘Community

Connections’

Buckland Newton Neighbourhood Car Scheme - How

things have changed

The BN Community Car Scheme was set up in 2014 and was originally aimed at supporting individuals over 50 years old who lived in the parish of Buckland Newton, who may have been at risk of rural isolation. The aim was to support them get to medical appointments, assist with shopping, taking them to hairdressers etc. Volunteer drivers supported these individuals. The intention was never to take away business from the local bus service or in those days local taxi services. In 2018 we covered 195 requests for lifts but in 2024-25 only 45. Most of the journeys back in 2018 were over to Cerne Abbas surgery for doctors’ appointments – how life has changed in so few years! The scheme has evolved over the years to support the needs of community, especially after Covid and now we find that many medical appointments are further afield with journeys in the last year to Taunton and Bournemouth hospitals as well as dentists on Portland. Clients now need to register with us, and they pay an annual £10 subscription to be able to use the service. We ask for a donation of 50p per mile travelled, to go towards paying for the drivers’ costs, insurance etc. We ask for at least 48 hrs notice of requests for journeys. Volunteer drivers give up their time freely to support the scheme, and they often support other activities in the village too. All are DBS checked and are issued with hospital parking permits and receive 45p per mile they have driven. Although we lost our bus service a few years ago, there is still a taxi company based in Cerne Abbas who may be able to assist, although they generally do airport runs. Alternative transport options were investigated by the Parish Council, but they were not viable due to costs. A letter has recently been written to Edward Morrello, our local MP, who is apparently following up parishioner concerns about the lack of public transport. Many community car schemes only cover journeys to medical appointments and are struggling to find volunteer drivers. In our last financial year, the lifts were covered by 10 volunteer drivers, however we also had 5 drivers who had to stand down at various times of the year, due to various reasons. Although we don’t want to, we may in future have to prioritise the type of lifts we can cover. If you feel that you would like to know more about either using the car scheme as a client or as a volunteer driver, then please contact Sheila Crouch on 07733 849264 or email on bncarscheme@gmail.com. Sheila Crouch (Car Scheme Co-ordinator)