News

News Update February 2010

The next meeting of

Perth & Kinross Community Transport Group Incorporating CCA and MOG

will be held at 10.30am

Monday 29th March 2010

in the

The Boardroom, The Blind Society, New Row, Perth.

     News Update January 2010

Next PKCTG MiDAS Course

PKCTG will be delivering the next MiDAS Course on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th February 2010.

The MiDAS course is split into two parts, these being a presentation and theory test (Friday 26th), followed by a driving assessment (Saturday 27th) in the Perth area. However the location of the theory assessment will be determined based on the localities expressing interest. You will be notified of this venue in due course.

The associated costs are:- MiDAS refresher £35.00, MiDAS standard £45.00, MiDAS accessible £50.00.
To participate on the course, the following criteria must be met:
date of birth
21 years of age or over,
have held a full licence for 2 years
copy of Driving licence to be provided
have D1 entitlement on licence.
A MiDAS application to be completed.
For further information please contact either Angela or Jayne on 01577 866766 or email pkctg@btconnect.com

The next meeting of PKCTG, Incorporating CCA and MOG

will take place on 25^th January 2010 at 10.30am

The venue is: The Birnam Institute, Station Road, Birnam, Dunkeld, PH8 0DS

      Local Minibus Operator awarded £25,000

              Fantastic News for the Comrie Community!

What fantastic news for the start of a new decade! The Comrie Community Bus Trust (CoCo Bus) has been awarded £25,000 from three funding sources, P&K Council, The Big Lottery and The Robertson Trust to help fund the purchase of a new wheelchair accessible minibus to serve the Comrie Community! PKCTG along with the Management Committee of the Bus Trust worked hard to win these awards and wish to express their sincere thanks to the local people, who kindly made donations to help support the applications, and help retain this valuable Community Asset.

In 2010, the Trust will be working with Emma Margrett the Comrie Carbon Challenge Officer at the Comrie Development Trust to evaluate the benefits of shared transport on the Comrie environment and will be holding a public event to celebrate the launch of the new minibus.

News Update November 2009

PKCTG delivered MiDAS training for eight individuals on the 23^rd and 24^th October 2009.
The representatives were from Aberfeldy Sharks, Kinross-shire Day Centre, PKCTG, Pitlochry Senior Citizens, Strathcare and Vale of Atholl Pipe Band.
Congratulations to all!

TACTRAN
The four sub strategies i.e.

Travel Information Stategy and Action Plan
Buses Strategy and Action Plan
Park and Ride Strategy and Action Plan
Walking and Cycling Strategy Action Plan

are available in hard copy format from PKCTG
To request a copy please click here pkctg@btconnect.com

For further information and to access TACTRAN website please see the TACTRAN News web page.

News update March 2009
DISCLOSURES FOR VOLUNTARY TRANSPORT PROVIDERS
PKCTG are now able to access Disclosure Checks for voluntary transport providers in Perth and Kinross FREE OF CHARGE.

If you are considering undertaking Disclosure Checks or require further information about Disclosures, please contact
Angela on 01577 866766.

News update January 2009
MiDAS COURSE
PKCTG delivered MiDAS training for six individuals on the 23^rd and 24^th January. The representatives were from P&K Scouts, Auchterarder Parish Church, The Gospel Hall, Kinross and Ardoch Development Trust. Congratulations to all who participated and
passed.

News update October 2008
The Fare Deal

Mass Call for “A Fare Deal”

12 Organisation Partnership Means Bus-iness
Thousands of older and disabled scheme. To highlight this anomaly, a partnership of 12 major organisations representing Scotland’s older and disabled people, spearheaded by Help the Aged in Scotland , Capability Scotland and the Community Transport Association Scotland, is asking the Scottish Government to include demand responsive community transport in the scheme as a matter of urgency.

The “A Fare Deal” campaign, launched today, aims to highlight this discrimination against people who, through no fault of their own, are excluded from what can be a lifeline service, either because they cannot access conventional buses, live too far from a bus stop, have no bus service at all or the bus timetable does not suit their needs. They are forced to turn to demand responsive community transport or in extreme cases, taxis, and this usually costs them money, money many of them can’t afford, putting the most vulnerable at risk of poverty and isolation. The partnership estimates that around 2.6 million journeys are made annually in Scotland using demand responsive transport.   The fact that many of these journeys, in both rural and urban settings, are made by people with free bus passes who have to pay simply because they cannot access scheduled bus services, is unfair. 84-year-old Bunty Scott lives in Bridge of Urr, 2 miles off the nearest bus route in Dumfries and Galloway. She’s bent almost double with arthritis and a little deaf, but has the following point to make: “It’s just not fair – I’ve always loved nature and am surrounded by it in this beautiful part of the world, but never really experience it any more. I stare at four walls most of the time and that’s a desperate situation to be in.” Gail Brown, Campaigns Officer at Help the Aged in Scotland says: “We want to see everyone who is entitled to use the Scotland-wide free travel scheme able to benefit from it. Thousands of older and disabled people have to restrict their journeys to essential trips and miss out on social, cultural and in some cases economic activities, to their and society’s detriment, just because demand responsive community transport is not included. It’s high time they got “A Fare Deal”.” John MacDonald, Director for Scotland, Community Transport Association says: “The scheme has been a boon for many people but sadly it’s those who need it most who are missing out. Extending it to community and voluntary transport providers, who provide the best services for those who are most frail or disabled, would be easy and the cost to the government would be insignificant.” Faye Gatenby, Capability Scotland’s Campaigns, Parliamentary & Policy Manager says: " Disabled people must not be excluded from the healthier, wealthier and fairer Scotland that the Government is working towards, nor should disabled people be excluded from the benefits that free bus travel can bring simply because the buses are not accessible to them. There is a lot that needs to be done to make our transport accessible for disabled people - extending the National Concessionary Bus Travel Scheme to include Demand Responsive Community Transport is a small, relatively inexpensive yet important step that the Government can make." The “A Fare Deal” campaign is asking supporters of the initiative to sign a postcard which will be distributed by all partner organisations across the country. They can also sign and support the campaign by clicking onto the Help the Aged in Scotland web site at http://campaigns.helptheaged.org.uk/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=31&ea.campaign.id=1443 . The signatures will then be presented to the Scottish Government in December to demonstrate the public backing for extending the free bus scheme to include demand responsive community transport.

Six individuals from Pitlochry Senior Citizens and Good Neighbours completed their MiDAS Training delivered by PKCTG in October 2008. In addition to this, two representatives from Aberfeldy Sharks successfully completed the course! Congratulations to all!
News update September 2008
From 6th October 2008, Community Car Association members will be able to access preferred parking spaces at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
Please consult the Hospital Parking at Ninewells Webpage

Seven individuals completed MiDAS training in Blairgowrie on 6th September. All seven participants are members of Blairgowrie and District Next Steps (BADNS) walking group. Congratulations to all who participated.

PKCTG were invited to deliver a presentation to Politicians, and members of the Voluntary Sector, at an event organised by the CVS in Perth. Angela Prescott stressed the importance of Community Transport Sector and the difference it makes to peoples lives. Presentations were also given by representatives from Age Concern, Perth Citizens Advice, Perth and District YMCA, Independent Advocacy P&K, CVS P&K and Check in Group P&K.

John Swinney MSP was the keynote Speaker at the PKCTG Annual Meeting held on the 27th June 2008. Reports from the meeting can be found on our PKCTG Annual Meeting and AGM 2008 Webpage

The PKCTG Annual General Meeting and formal launch of the Community Car Association will take place in the Centenary Suite, McDiarmid Park, on Friday 27th June 2008 at 2pm.

Please contact PKCTG if you have an interest in Community Transport and would like to attend as numbers may be limited.

Blairgowrie and District Next Steps (BADNS) have purchased a second hand minibus from a PKCTG member. BADNS organise walks for all ages and abilities around Blairgowrie and the Glens. A link to their website can be found on our voluntary sector links page!