ECT has launched the ECT Transport Fund to help support organisations in Ealing create social opportunities for isolated individuals through local accessible community transport options. The Fund will give local community groups the opportunity to bid for transportation funding that will stimulate new or additional community activities.
ECT has been providing community transport services in Ealing for over 35 years. ECT’s community-based door-to-door services help keep disabled, isolated and lonely people independent and mobile. As part of our commitment to deliver a public benefit, ECT constantly seeks innovative ways to work with local partners to provide local communities with safe, affordable and accessible transport that responds to their needs.
The ECT Transport Fund will provide successful applicants with a credit of up to £1,000 to offset the cost of transport provided by ECT (which includes a driver if you need one, vehicle hire and fuel costs). To be eligible to apply, applicants must be a community and/or voluntary group which provides community-based activities.
For further details and to apply, please download the application form here.
ECT delivers accessible shuttle service for the third largest sporting event in the world.
ECT was delighted to be involved in the planning and delivery during 2015 of an accessible shuttle service for all Rugby World Cup games at Twickenham and the Olympic Park.
In early 2015, ECT was involved by England 2015 to project manage and deliver accessible transport on match days. ECT led the delivery of a service in partnership with six community transport operators that helped rugby fans with mobility difficulties attend world cup matches.
Over the six-week tournament, a total of 11,149 passenger trips were made, a little fewer than 700 passengers on average at each match. Passenger numbers increased as awareness for the service grew, and at the World Cup Final itself, 977 passengers were transported to and from Twickenham Stadium.
The particular need for specialist accessible shuttles was highlighted by the number of wheelchair users who used the service: 662 over the course of the whole tournament, including 76 on the busiest night.
Shuttle bus user Julia Lock, spoke of the difference the accessible shuttle service has made to her experience of the RWC: “I suffer from severe asthma and had been very concerned about the walk to Twickenham as exercise exacerbates it. I had not been aware of the availability of the service and by the time I got from the car to the Park and Ride area I was very wheezy.
“One of your accessible shuttle drivers invited us to use the service, which was a lifesaver for me. Everyone was incredibly lovely and welcoming. Your service made my day, as without your help I would have been too unwell to have enjoyed the game.”
Mick Wright, Head of Tournament Services for England Rugby 2015, said: “Your team and your services were a genuine differentiator for this tournament and I am hugely grateful for the professionalism and dogged determination you guys put into making sure everyone understood what was needed and then delivered against it.”
Diane Morgan, Quality and Standards Manager for ECT, said: “The Rugby World Cup was a big challenge but ECT’s professionalism shone through every day. We got so much positive feedback and I am proud to have been the manager of such a great project. Would we do it all over again? You bet we would!”
Anna Whitty, CEO of ECT Charity, said: “We feel privileged to have led this collaboration to successfully deliver accessibility for all spectators at the Rugby World Cup 2015. It was truly rewarding working with England Rugby 2015, and we thank them for their vision and commitment to making the tournament so accessible.
“The Rugby World Cup 2015 is another fantastic example of the community transport sector working together to ensure inclusion and accessibility for all members of our communities. Our hope is that the success of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Invictus Games 2014 and now the Rugby World Cup 2015, leads to a continued commitment from all major sporting tournaments and special events in the future to share this vision of inclusiveness.”
To read more about our success at the Rugby World Cup 2015, read our celebratory publication A Winning Team.
In January 2016, ECT Charity launched the report Why Community Transport Matters, an amalgamation of two pieces of ground-breaking research led by ECT Charity to help community transport organisations around the UK to demonstrate their social value and the impact they have on health, wellbeing and communities.
First, we worked with Deloitte to produce Tackling Loneliness and Isolation through Community Transport, a major piece of research into the economic cost of loneliness and isolation and the potential for community transport schemes to make savings of between £0.4 billion and £1.1 billion a year for the public purse, as well as reducing pressure on public services and helping older people to remain active members of society.
The second study, A Practical Method for Measuring Community Transport Social Value, will help community transport organisations make a compelling case to commissioners on the value of their services. It was developed through the London Strategic Community Transport Forum (LSCTF).
Why Community Transport Matters brings together the highlights from both research initiatives, including a toolkit distilled from the Deloitte research, and an introduction to the practical measurement framework.
We are incredibly proud of the report, and hope that sharing these lessons learned goes some way in convincing CT’s to use the methodology to measure their own social value, as well as persuade commissioners and local authorities that we add value beyond the simple fulfilment of a contract.
ECT Charity provided the accessible shuttle service at the Invictus Games, which took place in London from 11th to 14th September 2014.
ECT Charity is incredibly proud to have played a part in such an inspirational event. The demand-led service provided transport for over 1,300 spectators with mobility difficulties including wheelchair users from Stratford Regional station to various stops around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, as well as for Lea Valley athletics. A team of dedicated service controllers were posted at every stop, managing the demand responsive service to ensure that it met the needs of spectators arriving and leaving each event.
For able-bodied people, the 20-30 minute walk from the station to the venues was a pleasant stroll, but for those with disabilities, and their carers, it presented a difficult journey. The service provided by ECT helped ensure this journey was easy, making the Invictus Games an accessible event for all.
In 2012, we delivered, as lead partner, the London 2012 Accessible Shuttles project on behalf of the Olympic Delivery Authority. This large-scale, complex project was recognised as one of the outstanding transport successes of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and positioned accessible transport at the heart of future Olympic planning.
ECT Charity provided the lead planning and delivery role bringing together 24 individual community transport organisations to deliver the world-class accessible transport service, operating no less the 48 routes. The value and success of the project can be demonstrated by considering the number of passengers with mobility impairments who used the Accessible Shuttles during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Some 100,000 passenger journeys were made (60,000 during the Olympics and 40,000 during the Paralympics) on a fleet of nearly 150 vehicles operated by 550 drivers and 200 specially trained support staff.
It has been acknowledged that London 2012 was the most inclusive and accessible Games in Olympic history. This was the largest operation of its kind ever attempted and its success has left a lasting legacy. The success of this project not only placed the provision of accessible transport high on the agenda of transport providers, but also provided a platform from which ECT Charity was able to demonstrate the professionalism and capacity of the community transport sector as a whole, and specifically of ECT Charity as a leader of that sector.
ECT Charity marked the one year anniversary of the London Olympics and Paralympics with a special report celebrating its gold-standard performance providing ‘Accessible Shuttles’ that helped spectators with disabilities attend Olympic and Paralympic venues during London 2012.
The report, was presented to Mayor Boris Johnson, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and the then transport minister Norman Baker. Mayor Boris called the team the ‘unsung heroes’ of London 2012 and said: “I hope that across London and elsewhere in the UK, such services will in future always be provided to this standard – this will be a fitting and important legacy to the London 2012 Olympic Games.
ECT Charity's operations in Milton Keynes closed in August 2014.
Please contact Milton Keynes Council on 01908 252266 or email community.transport@milton-keynes.gov.uk if you have any enquiries.
Click here to read our final newsletter.
Nearly 2,000 wheelchair users and 17,000 other spectators with a range of mobility needs were able to attend this summer’s world athletics events in London, thanks to ECT Charity.
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