The Parish Trust is pleased to announce that a grant of £10,000 has been awarded to the charity to launch a community transport shuttle bus that will take residents of Caerphilly, Bedwas, Trethomas, and Machen to both the Royal Gwent Hospital and The Grange University Hospital.
In partnership with Aneurin Bevan Health Board, the Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations (GAVO), and the Community Transport Association, The Parish Trust will be providing its minibus to offer a community shuttle bus service for two days a week. The project will be piloted for 6 months and is expected to be well supported by the general public.
If the project is successful, it is hoped that it will be self sustainable for it to continue into the future until other public transport opportunities become available.
The minibus is modern with the ability to take a maximum of 15 passengers in any one trip to or from the hospitals, with multiple trips running each day. Throughout the pilot scheme, passengers who wish to travel will be required to pre-book their place on the minibus. A nominal fee of £3.75 per single trip will be charged to help cover costs.
The minibus will start its route from the centre of Caerphilly before stopping at Bedwas, Trethomas, and Machen and then travelling on to the Royal Gwent Hospital and The Grange. The minibus will then come back in the opposite direction, running a round trip multiple times on the days of operation.
Days of operation and bus timetables are still being worked out but it is hoped that the service will be fully running as soon as possible in 2021 but by January 2022 at the latest.
Hefin David, Member of Senedd for the area was in support of the proposal by The Parish Trust to establish such a venture. He said,
“Since the opening of the Grange in November 2020, my office have received numerous concerns that people are being advised to go to The Grange for certain treatments, but are unable to get there. While we do not keep a file on these emails specifically, I can say from a quick search that we have had around 10 emails in relation to The Grange in the last month. It is also a topic that comes up regularly during my Facebook live streams which take place on a fortnightly basis… This is a key issue within my constituency at the moment and I fully support this application by the Parish Trust, to try and ease the problems of residents. If I can support them further in any way I would be delighted to do so.“
Rev. Dean Aaron Roberts, the Chair of Trustees commented,
“The Parish Trust is committed, as a Christian based organisation, to meet the felt needs of the area we serve. It is a core Christian value that people should be well looked after in a holistic way. We are honoured to be able to help the Health Board in some small way by providing access to the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual care available at the hospitals that can be logistically difficult for residents to visit by using our minibus. We’re truly thankful to the grant funders who have supported us, and to Hefin who has also shed light on why this service is vitally needed. Finally, we are thankful to the General Public who also encouraged us on social media to look into this new initiative. The hard work starts now as we start planning the route timings, and source a driver for the two days that we will be running. We can’t wait!”
Finalised details of the service and how it can be used will be announced in due course. For any enquiries, please contact us.
