Westway Community Transport

Whether you're in the office making it through to Christmas Eve or scrolling at home now on annual leave - Happy Christmas officially From us to You! Another year is nearly done, completed, in.the.bag.xn--ms9h Thank you for your support throughout the year, it means the world to us. Each passenger trip is a human story, whether we’re helping a community group to bring its members together or an older person to maintain their independence, the power of community transport lies in connecting people and places. We're looking forward to another year of developing and delivering services with you and for you. With very best wishes for 2025 from all of us, Kathleen, Ryan, Carol, Lee, Anna, Russell, Verolyn, Kevin, Ali, Purvita, Yousef, Vince and the Drivers’ Team!

Today we celebrate one of our member groups Minds United FC and their new partnership with Flashpoint FC . This will see them helping more young people in North & West London next year. And it'll help create an official player/employment pathway for when teenagers reach 18 and work hard to help prevent serious youth violence. Congratulations Minds United FC and Flashpoint FC, what an incredible Xmas present and incredible partnership!🥰🥳⚽ #communitymatters #christmas2024 #communitytransport #mentalhealthmatters

News this week via Guardian News Today about older people skipping meals to cut on costs, and how a rise in streaming services rather than regular TV means there’s less community or opportunities for ‘moments together’, both are worrying, but we have to remember that community is all around us, it’s been with us forever, and it’s not going anywhere, and being part of it helps us notice when someone needs help or a hand, or an advocate. As the world shrinks through tech and prices rise, being there for one another through community is a way for us to share and support each other always. Community Transport alone isn't the answer to the problems society faces, but it is one of the services, along with charities and local groups that together are helping to stitch community fabric, to keep it intact, and making a difference everyday to people's lives. https://lnkd.in/eb4rTRb5

It's International Volunteer Day, and like many orgs volunteers help keep the wheels turning. Did you know there’s 22 volunteers helping us deliver great journeys for our community? From manning the volunteer car scheme to our free excursions they make a huge difference to what we can do. In real terms this means that people who can’t access mainstream transport can still get out and feel part of the place where they live. Community isn’t just social it’s about having a purpose, a reason to take part so that you can feel connected to others - we couldn’t make the difference we do with out the time our volunteers give, like Tim here, who took shopper bus passengers on a free excursion to see the lights. He braved London’s traffic driving from Notting Hill all around town to show off the lights, something that our passengers wouldn’t have been able to experience without him. 🎄So a massive thank you to all of you for what you do for us, and your community.

‘Communicating your impact can be a real tall order when you don’t capture data. This can result in poor recognition of the environmental, social, and wellbeing benefits of CT. Everybody should know, and be shouting about, what we do within the CT sector.’  From our first session at #CT24: ECT Charity's CEO, John Chesters, shared the launch of their CT Social Value Toolkit 2.0, enabling Community Transport organisations to capture the difference they make. 📍 Stop by the ECT stand, meet the team, and pick up a leaflet to learn more! 💡

Who else is falling out of love with X? We've been there for many years now, and a lot of our CT colleagues are there too, and the groups that use our services. This is a big question and challenge for many charities and groups - it's part of our social landscape (we're on instagram and Facebook too) and an invaluable point of connection to reach our audiences and share our news. For now we're still there, but we're weighing up the pros and cons of moving. Bluesky Social and Threads seem to be calling, and millions have made the move, Threads boasts 275million users a month. If you're pondering this too, this article in The Guardian, which moved out a few days ago may help: https://lnkd.in/epu9VDqr

🎉 It’s Trustees Week! And we’re celebrating the incredible work of our Management Committee. Our committee members—elected from our membership—play a vital role in guiding us.  Working in a spirit of partnership affects how we engage with our stakeholders and how we respond to our communities’ needs. As a community owned and user led not-for-profit, our social enterprise model helps us to also contribute to local resilience through fair and meaningful employment and impactful volunteering. Huge thanks to our committee for their dedication and support in helping us build stronger, healthier, and happier communities together. 💙 Want to find out more about how we’re governed and what drives us? Scan our latest annual review, link in bio. #TrusteesWeek #CommunityImpact 

Levelling up. In 2022, the average person in England made 862 trips, with 59% of those trips using private transport, 33% using active travel, and 8% using public transport. Those figures maybe higher 2 years on.  None of us like having the freedom to go where we want restricted, and all of us recognise, sooner or later that how we live is often made possible because of the transport options we have available to us. So it’s no wonder that community transport providers are more than a nice to have - they're an enabler helping a huge part of the population to participate, from special occasions, to the day to day.  No one wants to have their wings clipped just because they get older or have mobility challenges. Community transport is vital, knitting together communities that would otherwise get left behind.  So keep an eye out when you’re out and about for your local community transport provider, given how many journeys they make, (we made 32,000 individual passenger trips over this last year and 40,000 trips for groups)  you can’t miss us once you see us. 

This is George, he’s been with us as a driver battling London’s finest traffic for many years, and is an absolute pleasure to work with, the team recognised his cheerful, reliable, helpful, and dedicated service with a presentation to say thank you and recognise his loyalty - shown here with our deputy CEO Ryan. WCT is a great place to work - people stay with us, so if you’re looking for a change, check out our vacancies both staff and volunteer opps on our website - link in bio.

"CT breaks down the barriers to opportunities, it helps people to lead happy, healthier lives, by filling in the gaps in existing transport provision and serving those with specific needs.” Well said by Local Transport Minister Simon Lightwood MP when he dropped into our depot during #ctweek24 helping to shine a light on the great work of community transport providers across the country - we chatted about the lifeline it offers, allowing people to shop, socialise and attend appointments, and across the country helping 14.5million people. The minister went on to say, "Everyone deserves to travel confidently, which is why we’re ensuring community services are included in our bus overhaul plans.”😀🚌❤ Hear what he has to say here: https://lnkd.in/ekAwRwTd Thank you to Community Transport Association for helping to make this happen with us.