Mayor renews appeal to save Dial-a-Ride charity

WARRINGTON’S Mayor Geoff Settle has renewed an appeal to help save the town’s under threat “Dial-a-Ride” service which has been hit by funding cuts.

Cllr Settle said:” The Dial-a-Ride Trustees and their partners are working extremely hard to keep the valuable service going – it’s hard, really hard work.

“We are hopefully making progress BUT we need your support to spread the word. One useful and important way is to write to us and say why YOU and YOURS need Dial-a-Ride.

He urged people to send an email to either Dial a ride c/o Manager Brian Wilson to [email protected]

“Please include things that you value about the service and also things that you want to see improved – what do we get right and what don’t we get so right?

“We know that we will have to come up with a new Operational Model and we want our customers to be involved, we value as always their contributions and help.

“We love to hear about any offers of help or prospective volunteers to take the service forward.”

In the past three years the local authority grant has been reduced in stages by a total of £56,000 taking the funding down from £184,000 to £128,000 in the current financial year.

In the past year alone, the service operated 26,584 passenger journeys, of which 2,458 were undertaken by wheelchair users. Some 35 per cent of the journeys were to and from medical and day centres, hubs and luncheon clubs, 33 per cent for shopping and 27 per cent were for education, training and employment. Another five per cent of trips allowed people to visit relatives and friends.

The charity launched in 1985 has already lost two minibuses and reduced staff numbers to try to make ends meet in response to the reduced funding.

Professional advice from a turnaround and insolvency practitioner had confirmed that the cuts in central funding posed a “strong risk” to the future financial viability of Dial-a-Ride.

Cllr Settle added: “As a Trustee I’ve invested too much time during my Mayoral Year to let this service go down without fighting for it.”

He can be contacted via email at [email protected] or by writing to 19 Athlone Rd, Warrington WA2 8JJ or by phone:01925 419988 –

“Hopefully it will be a Happy New Year,” he added.