Here are some figures on our community transport service that will delight you!

We know that many of you out there wonder just what it is we do each year within each of the services we provide to the older residents of the Cotswolds

For those of you who don’t know, Cotswold Friends is a local charity that - among other services - provides a community transport service for people in and around the North Cotswold area.  The transport service has evolved from a system founded in the 1970’s and has grown over the years to where we are today with just under a thousand clients and just under a hundred volunteers. 

Our team of volunteers consists mainly of drivers but there’s also a team of front desk operators who manage all the journey booking on our bespoke database program called TRAFFIC.

During the year April 2014 to March 2015, we have been reflecting upon what the service has achieved. We now have:

• 831 Clients
• 67 Volunteer Drivers (plus 8 on hold) and 7 Front Desk Volunteers
• 2604 Transport Requests Received
• 52% Medical Journeys / 48% Social Journeys
• No.1 Destination is Cheltenham General Hospital
• No.2 Destination is Gloucestershire Young Carers
• No.3 Destination is Morton in Marsh North Cotwold Hospital

In short, WE’VE COVERED 59,263 MILES

Journey requests for medical appointments at hospitals and GP rooms have always been very high but recently we have seen an increase for journeys for social purposes and this year it is almost the same percentage as medical appointments.  This means we have achieved great success in changing the perception that our community transport service is only for medical reasons.

And, our star volunteer drivers have undertaken thousands of miles transporting our clients across the district…..

• 8 drivers did over 1000 miles
• 7 drivers did over 2000 miles
• 5 drivers did over 3000 miles
• 1 driver did over 4000 miles and another driver did over 6000 miles!   Many of our clients use the service on a repeat booking basis.  Often we are told it’s the friendly, local service they can depend on.  Delighted clients also tell us how much they appreciate us being here in the community, how much they enjoy interacting with the Front Desk team in the office, and value all the drivers who are kind, considerate and diligent in their role.