Beeline Patient Transport
£3,000 TO BEELINE PATIENT TRANSPORT SERVICE
The WPH Charitable Trust has awarded £3,000to Beeline Community Transport – a transport service taking patients the north of Warwickshire to and from medical or healthcare appointments.
Launched in 1983, Beeline Community Transport is based within Trinity Church in Atherstone. Although it is open to everyone, one general requirement is that patients are unable to get to and from appointments by any other means.
The service costs between £18,000 and £20,000 a year to run and co-ordinators rely on grants and booking fees to help keep the service running.
There are 27 volunteers, each with their own cars, who are paid mileage expenses directly by the service users.
The majority of bookings are for appointments with hospitals, doctors, chiropodists, dentists, physiotherapists and opticians. Beeline will also take service users to visit relatives or friends in hospitals or care homes and in some instances – if bookings are generally quiet – to clubs or social events, though healthcare appointments always take priority.
Gemma Wilson is the co-ordinator for Beeline Community Transport.
She said: “We are very grateful to the WPH Charitable Trust for awarding us this money and helping us to keep this vital service running. Last year we completed a total of 3,573 journeys which shows there is a real need for a patient transport service in North Warwickshire.
“Sadly it can get harder and harder to raise the funds we need so to receive £3,000, it gives us a good chunk of the money we need to help keep this service going.”
The WPH Charitable Trust provides funding for individuals, groups and organisations which work to prevent, relieve and cure sickness in Coventry and Warwickshire. The Trust provides grants for medical research, buildings, equipment and other forms of medical care for residents of the region. All applications are made via the Trust’s website and are assessed on a quarterly basis.
For further details on the Trust, or to make an online application, log on to www.warwickshirehealthcharity.org.uk
