THE wheels are back on with Warrington’s Community Transport Service Dial-a-Ride following a traumatic period which saw the charity threatened with closure.
It was with a huge sigh of relief that Managers and Staff got together at Warrington Town Hall to celebrate the end of the traumatic time and a new dawn at the charity which has provided a vital transport service for the disabled and vulnerable people of Warrington for over 20 years.
The service enables its clients to get to hospital, doctor’s surgery and shops as well as to visit family and friends by providing a door to door service in a safe and secure way.
New Vice-Chair, Geoff Settle, Mayor of Warrington said “As an organisation we are delighted to emerge from a horrible time that we experienced towards the end of last year living under the constant threat of closure. As trustees we had to put the entire workforce on notice of redundancy and told them that in all probability we would cease trading by the end of the year.
“As Trustees we also found out that we would have to pay off any outstanding debts should we cease trading. As a councillor I hadn’t realised that volunteering to be a trustee on behalf of the council carried that sort of personal price tag.”
The threat of closure was a consequence of reduced funding by Warrington Borough Council over recent years, rising vehicle maintenance costs and last minute cancellations by client bookings as a consequence of increased illness and changing circumstances. This combination had a major impact on the cash flow especially during the six month period leading up to the autumn of last year.
The organisations fortunes were turned by predominantly by a combination of things.
1. Return a previous Chair, Patsy Hodgson, who is now Vice Principal of Manchester Communications Academy (MCA) and her colleagues who live in Warrington.
2. A plan jointly developed by the three remaining trustees and Patsy’s Team were instrumental in gaining WBC funding for 2016/2017 but at a reduction of £57,000.
3.Finance for the crucial period between January and March provided by the Bill Holroyd Charitable Trust and the NHS Trust. Both organisation applied due diligence and had no hesitation in backing the organisation for this vital service.
New chair, Colin Devine said: “These were very trying times and these three factors were critical in turning our fortunes around. One key item within the detail of the plan was the new operational model developed by Steve Taylor who now works for MCA – he did the number crunching to produce routes and timetables for the new business plan.
“This new model has proved successful during the trial three month period of the 2016 and most importantly our clients are happy with it. There maybe a couple of blips whilst we bed it in but we will endeavor for it to run smoothly and help our customers adjust.”
Patsy added: “When I was told Dial-a-Ride was in difficulties I just couldn’t ignore the situation. I worked with the directors and staff to get the wheels back on the mini buses.
“It hasn’t been easy, in fact is has been extremely hard but we are in a much stronger position and there are smiles on faces. The event at the town hall was our way of saying thanks you to staff and drivers for staying and believing in what we were doing. We are now in a position where we can build on this success and look to making the business stronger and putting more smiles on everyone’s faces.”
