TOWN councillors and members of the public in Bude were able to hear about the benefits of potentially having a ‘ring and ride’ service in the area, writes Rosie Cripps.

Julia Foster, from the Holsworthy Rural Community Transport charity, attended the meeting of the full council on Thursday, July 5 to introduce the popular scheme that has been rolled out across Holsworthy and the surrounding area.

Starting her presentation before the official start of Bude-Stratton Town Council’s meeting, Ms Foster said she wanted to ‘give a flavour of what the charity offers’, currently being in the midst of a four-month trial in the EX29 postcode areas, for the ring and ride scheme to be rolled out.

“We’re a small charity, having been established for 17 years. We don’t just cover Holsworthy — it’s Holsworthy and the community area.

“We’re currently trialling our scheme in the EX29 area, which includes Poughill, which would be the most relevant area to you (Bude). We have three main services.”

The first of the charity’s services is the ring and ride service, which is the service being trialled in the Stratton area. It involves a wheelchair accessible mini bus, where the driver picks up a passenger, takes them to their destination and drops them home again.

Ms Foster explained why this service can be a ‘lifeline’ for some people.

“Some users can’t leave the house otherwise,” she said. “We’re happy to help all age groups — the service isn’t limited by age. It can be for anyone who doesn’t have their own transport, they will be eligible.”

Once a user joins the service, having registered with the charity, a timetable will be dropped to them every couple of months. However, some residents in the Bude-Stratton area may have received a four-month timetable, due to the nature of the trial.

The service can take passengers to towns with a supermarket, so they can do their shopping; trips involving a nice lunch or day out; and further trips to places such as Falmouth and St Ives. Trips start from £4.50 and go up to as much as £8.

“I like coming out and talking about this,” Ms Foster continued. “It’s such a positive service.

“It is a lifeline for some people. Some wouldn’t leave the house if it wasn’t for this service. We look to combat isolation, depression and loneliness — and if you look at the current state of the adult social care sector, it really is a needed service.”

However, with all charities and voluntary services, if it is not used, it will cease to be made available to those who need it. Ms Foster continued: “I hate the phrase, ‘use it or lose it’, but it is a bit like that. We do need people to use it to keep it going.”

The other two services the charity offers is the volunteer car service and the community mini bus hire. The car service is ‘basically a taxi service’, which can take passengers to medical appointments.

Run by willing volunteers, passengers would pay just 45p per mile to cover fuel expenses. If this was to be used in the Bude area, a group of volunteers would need to be built up to run the service.

The community mini bus hire is for any community groups or organisations to hire when the bus is not already in use — for trips, journeys to sports matches and more. Prices are £25 for the evening, and £40 for the day.

Last year, the charity served 2,272 ring and ride passengers, carried out 954 voluntary car journeys and 109 mini bus hires. “It’s a well-used service, and there is definitely a need for it.”

For more information about each service offered by the charity, ring 01409 259001 or email [email protected]