£5,000 investment in South Lakeland's young people

Cumbria County Council's South Lakeland Local Committee agreed yesterday to buy two more community mini buses to enable young people and other residents to overcome access problems. Councillors also agreed to support trials for new public transport services across South Lakeland. The move promotes the social inclusion of young people and highlights the commitment of the Local Committee to address the problems of access to services identified by many young people in rural communities. 

County Councillor Anne Parker, Chair of South Lakeland Local Committee, says, 

"In our rural communities many people in South Lakeland face daily problems in accessing local services. Consultation with young people has made us particularly aware of the transport problems they face, leading to them missing out on activities they would otherwise chose to take part in. We supported a successful lottery bid by South Lakeland Community Transport (SLCT) last year to provide a brokerage service for community transport. This has resulted in a Community mini bus based in Kendal. The Local Committee has now agreed to fund two additional mini buses, one of which will be based in Ulverston. To improve the use of community mini buses, the Committee will also support training for volunteer drivers. This enables more youth leaders and young people to become qualified mini bus drivers. 

Additionally, the Committee agreed £10,000 for the support of a ten-week pilot scheme to trial extra commercial bus services in the evenings and at weekends. The additional services will run on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. They are primarily aimed at young people but will be of benefit to all passengers. Passenger monitoring will take place during the pilot to find out how often people are using the additional services. 

Through these initiatives we are working in partnership with commercial operators and volunteers to build on existing initiatives improving access to community and public transport." 

Anyone interested in learning more about the community mini bus service or additional buses on existing routes can contact the Dave Wrigley, Neighbourhood Development Officer (Youth) on (01539) 773180.