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Appin Community Transport

Working for the whole community
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With no public transport services available, residents of Appin who do not have their own transport can struggle to get around.  Our Community Transport Scheme serves our older residents who choose to live an independent life in their own home but are no longer able or wish to drive themselves.

Typically journeys cover shopping trips, social events and other local travel on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In addition, from Monday to Friday the scheme attempts to meet the need for any essential medical appointments as required by members. To use the scheme, passengers must be pre-registered as a member. A modest fare is chargeable for each journey, as per the table on this website.

A few things to remember:

  • We offer a door to door return service at a fraction of the cost of a taxi.
  • Our drivers are all volunteers who give their time generously to the community.
  • The fares are more cost effective than owning and running your own car.
  • Using the community car enables you to travel when YOU need to.
  • The community car fills the gap left by the lack of public transport.
  • The car helps everyone in our well spread local community stay connected with each other.
  • When attending hospital in Glasgow or Inverness travelling expenses can be reclaimed.


wheelchair accessible vehicle
Wheelchair accessible vehicle

The scheme is operated by a pool of volunteer drivers, who generously give their time and assistance, as well as a part-time coordinator. The service is normally provided in our comfortable Volkswagen Sharan, which can also carry a passenger in their own wheelchair if necessary.

Passengers

How the scheme works

To use the Appin Community Transport service you need to:

  • Register as a member of the scheme
  • Request a booking
  • Pay a standard fare for each journey

The service is designed and licenced to meet the needs of our older residents in Appin including those with mobility problems. We are only able to accept as members any residents who meet the scheme criteria.

‍How to register

To register for the scheme simply contact our co-ordinator here> 

As part of the registration process, our co-ordinator will arrange to meet with you and discuss your needs and requirements.

How to book

Once you are registered you can simply phone the transport co-ordinator to request a booking.  We ask that you give as much notice as possible when making a booking, and at least 24 hours.

Fares

A standard fare is charged for each passenger journey - for local journeys in North Lorn and for hospital appointments.  Journey Fares>

Safeguarding

All of our drivers are volunteers and are members of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Adult Scheme.  Read our safeguarding policy here.

Frequently asked questions for passengers

See the answers to frequently asked questions below, or click to download all questions and answers for passengers (PDF).

Why do I need to register in order to use the service?
How do I go about getting registered?
What kind of journeys can I make?
Can I book ahead?
Who and how do I pay for my journeys?
What help can the drivers give me during my journey?
I use a walking aid – can I bring it with me?
Will the car come exactly when I want it?
Where can I be picked up from?
Can I be dropped off close to my destination?
Do I have to state why I’m travelling
Can I bring my dog?
How do I know that the person at my door is the community transport driver?
What if I need to cancel?
Will my booking ever be changed or cancelled?
Fares

Fares from 1st February 2024 until further notice are shown below, or download the list of fares from this link.

Fares: North Lorn

%%start%%

| From | To | Fare |

|:--|:--|---:|

| Appin | Appin | £5.00|

| Duror | Appin | £15.00|

| Appin | Oban | £15.00|

| Duror | Oban | £25.00|

| Appin | Duror/Barcaldine | £10.00|

| Duror | Barcaldine | £20.00|

| Appin/Duror | Ballachulish | £15.00|

| Appin/Duror | Fort William | £20.00|

%%stop%%

Fares: Hospital visits

%%start%%

| From | To | Fare |

|:--|:--|---:|

| Appin/Duror | Vale of Leven, Alexandria | £55.00 |

| Appin/Duror | Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley | £60.00 |

| Appin/Duror | Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Glasgow | £65.00 |

| Appin/Duror | Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow | £65.00 |

| Appin/Duror | Royal Jubilee Hospital, Glasgow | £60.00 |

| Appin/Duror | Gartnavel / Beatson / Nuffield / Ross Hall, Glasgow | £60.00 |

| Appin/Duror | Raigmore Hospital, Inverness | £70.00 |

%%stop%%

Drivers

Our group of volunteer drivers is vital to operation of Appin Community Transport scheme and their individual contributions are greatly valued.

We are always keen to hear from anyone who thinks they may like to become a volunteer driver.  For more information, please contact our community transport co-ordinator.

Community Transport Vehicle

The community transport vehicle is a VW Sharan, first registered in summer 2018.  The car is an automatic and has a ramp plus internal fixings to accommodate a passenger with a wheelchair. A maximum of four passengers can be carried, with plenty of space also for shopping and any wheelchair or walking aids.

We recognise the significant commitment that each of our drivers is making and will ask at the outset how much time each month you are willing to give to the scheme.  This helps us to draw up a basic journey schedule on a rolling eight week basis.  

All of our drivers are required to become members of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Adult Scheme: see our safeguarding policy.

Frequently asked questions for drivers

See the answers to frequently asked questions below, or click to download all questions and answers for drivers (PDF).

Who can become a volunteer driver?
How do I become a volunteer driver?
How often will I be asked to drive?
Where will I be asked to take passengers?
Can I choose which destinations I want to drive to?
How fit and able are passengers?
What training will I receive?
What happens if, due to unforeseen circumstances, I am unable to drive on the scheduled day?
Will I ever be asked to use my own car?
Can I volunteer to drive and ONLY use my own car?
How do I get the car for my scheduled day?
What paperwork will I have to deal with?
Support us

Support both from the community of Appin and from elsewhere is vital to sustaining our community transport service so that it continues to meet the needs of our elderly residents into the future. 

How you can support the Transport Scheme

  • Volunteer as a driver - if you live locally, enjoy driving and can spare a few hours each month to help others within the community.
  • Make a donation – to keep our fares at a level that is affordable for all our service users we need to receive funding donations to help cover our operating costs.  If you would like to support our work with a donation please make a donation here.
  • Offer sponsorship – if your organisation would like to offer financial sponsorship for our community transport service please contact us by phone, email or by message.
  • Offer a grant – our community transport service is supported each year by organisations providing either capital or revenue (or both!) grants - see the list of our current supporters. If your organisation would like to offer a grant please contact us by phone, email or by message.

Our current supporters

We are extremely grateful to the following organisations, without whose support the service could not have been started, would not operate to the desired quality standard, and could not be sustained.

Appin Community Trust

• Essentia Foundation

Scottish Sea Farms

Christina Mary Hendrie Trust

WHHA

Royal Caledonian Charities Trust

Argyll & Bute Council

NHS Highland

Aggregate Industries

ACHA

Tesco Bags of Help

• Argyllshire Gathering Christmas Ball

Contact us
Isobel MacCorquodale, Community Transport Co-ordinator

Contact Isobel MacCorquodale, Community Transport Co-ordinator

Telephone: 07960350753
If unanswered, please leave a message and Isobel will call you back as soon as possible.

Email:transport@appin.scot