St Philip & St James Community Minibus
About the Group:
St Philip & St James Community Minibus project was started in October 1992 when it was given a Ford Transit minibus from The Children's Society.
St Philip's Community Minibus is for voluntary groups or charities that are unable to have access to other minibuses.
It is run on a voluntary basis where users are not charged a hire fee but simply pay for the fuel they use.
The bus' funding is reliant on fund-raising events and donations to pay for road tax, MOT, insurance and repairs.
The minibus is administrated through the Church Office at St. Philip and St. James' Church, Odd Down.
Types of Journeys Catered for:
The minibus is used by a wide range of groups both from the church and the community. Most of the uses are for people who don't have access to their own transport (30% youth, 35% older people), whilst the rest is for charitable purposes.
Groups that use the bus must fit one of the following three criteria
- a group which is part of St Philip's church
- member of St Philip's church driving for a group of friends and acquaintances
- a community group - which must be from the Bath area (BA1, BA2, BA3), voluntary aided, charitable or benevolent, and non-political.
Groups that do not fit the above criteria but may want to use the bus have to seek approval from the PCC of St Philip's church, stating the aims and objectives of their group
Funding the minibus
It costs about £3,900 a year to insure, tax, MOT and repair the minibus and cover depreciation.
If the group had to charge it would be £12 per usage plus 25p a mile, but instead they rely on fundraising and donations.
It now costs between £60 and £90 a day to hire a commercial 15 seater minibus and then only if you can match their tight restrictions.
Groups use the minibus irrespective of the amount they donate but it would be helpful to raise or donate as much as they can to support this community resource.
Any surplus in the minibus fund will be put aside to cover depreciation and build up a fund to buy the next one.
Booking and Contact Information:
- Those wishing to use the minibus simply have to phone and book with the church office which is open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.
- They collect the keys from the office before use and return the keys back there afterwards.
- The bus is overseen by the Church Administrator who, as a full time church worker, runs the office and makes sure it is always open and available to the public.
- The bus is also checked weekly by a volunteer to rectify any faults or to report back to the administrator who then ensures it is mended at an established garage.
- Donations towards the bus are kept in a separate fund which is used to pay for insurance, road tax and repairs.
Contact:
For further information please contact: Sandra Bain on 01225 832838 or alanbain@stphilipsstjames.org
Further information is available by visiting their website at www.stphilipstjames.org and clicking the "community" tab along the top of their page.
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