Vital minibus service for elderly and disabled in Blyth is safe for 6 months

A Northumberland minibus service which provides transport for elderly and disabled people living in the Blyth area has been given a lifeline after it came under threat from council spending cuts.

11 different organisations make use of the vital service every week. The 16-seater minibus allows the most vulnerable people living in the Blyth community to get out and about whether it is to group meetings, church, appointments, or activities.

Up until now the council had funded the scheme putting aside £50,000 a year to keep the minibus service up and running. However after it was announced earlier this year that the funding would be lost due to major cut backs at the council, many group organisers and local councillors came together to see if they could come up with a plan to save the scheme.

Blyth Valley Disabled Forum who runs the service started discussions with the council and as a result, an additional £25,000 has been found to enable the service to keep running for another 6 months. However talks are ongoing in order to uncover a long-term solution for the minibus scheme’s funding issues.

The council says it is looking into ways of integrating the minibus scheme with other community services and will endeavour to uncover other sources of funding.