UBW Community Minibus

On an unusually sunny Sunday in late April, my children and I, set off to visit the fantastic Uffington, Baulking and Woolstone (UBW) Community Minibus as it was the launch of their very new minibus.

Timed beautifully with the local farmers market at Uffington village hall, UBW were displaying their new minibus to local residents, many of whom were users of the minibus or volunteered for UBW.  As soon as I caught the eye of John Hatcher, Chair of UBW Association, we hugged – I hadn’t seen John for a number of years. We quickly caught up and I also met Tom Scrivens, the Vehicle Manager. Both John and Tom have volunteered with UBW for many years, John since 2001 (23 years) and Tom since 1996 (28 years).

It was a very warm and welcoming event. Local folk wanted to talk about the new minibus and about UBW. In fact, one person came up to John and Tom and simply asked if he could become a volunteer minibus driver -if only it was that easy to find volunteer minibus drivers on an average day!

Like many community transport schemes, they have become the bedrock of the communities they serve. UBW was set up in 1982 and has served the villages and hamlets that would otherwise have little to no access to public transport. It is a transport service, which is shaped by the needs of the residents, so when passengers said it was too cold on the minibus during the winter months, UBW purchased a cabin heater (using some of the Connected Communities Fund). This helped passengers feel comfortable and able to use the service, keep connected with friends on the minibus and to get out and about.

As we so often hear, community transport schemes, are the ‘lifeline’ to many residents, whether they are rural or urban based and UBW is a case in point!

Emily Lewis-Edwards

Co-CEO (and lover of community transport!), Community First Oxfordshire