The Role of Volunteers in the Voluntary Transport Sector · 7 vehicles (1x12-seater minibus, 2x14...

The Role of Volunteers in the Voluntary Transport Sector

The Role of Volunteers in

Caring and Accessible

Transport

TOTAL TRANSPORT FUND PROJECT

Report

JMP Consultants Ltd


The Role of Volunteers in Caring and Accessible Transport

TOTAL TRANSPORT FUND PROJECT

Report

JMP Consultants Ltd 3rd Floor Innovation Court 121 Edmund Street Birmingham B3 2HJ T 0121 230 6010 F 0121 230 6011 E [email protected] www.jmp.co.uk [email protected] facebook.com/jmp.consultants twitter.com/#!/_jmp linkedin.com/company/jmp consulting

Report Record

Job No. Report No. Issue No. Prepared Verified Approved Status Date

MID4266 1 A Christopher Blake

Peter Hardy Peter Hardy Draft 12/05/16

MID4266 1 B Christopher Blake

Peter Hardy Peter Hardy Draft 17/06/16

MID4266 2 A Christopher Blake

Peter Hardy Peter Hardy Final 23/06/16

Contents Amendments Record

Issue No. Revision description Approved Status Date

http://www.jmp.co.uk/

mailto:[email protected]


Contents

2 STAKEHOLDER ORGANISATIONS 6

Charity organisations ............................................................................................................................ 7

Other Organisations ............................................................................................................................ 13

Local Authority Transport .................................................................................................................... 16

Health Transport ................................................................................................................................. 20

3 SWOT ANALYSIS 22

4 SPECIFIC INITIATIVES 23

Time Banking ...................................................................................................................................... 23

Advice for Volunteer Organisations .................................................................................................... 24

Volunteer Brokerage Scheme ............................................................................................................. 25

5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 27

Recruitment......................................................................................................................................... 27

Training ............................................................................................................................................... 28

Vehicle Resources .............................................................................................................................. 28

Opportunities....................................................................................................................................... 28

Engagement with Other Organisations ............................................................................................... 29

Specific Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 30

Tables and Figures

Table 2.1 Voluntary Transport organisations and their engagement .........................................................................6

Figure 4.1 Time credits - how do they work? ...........................................................................................................24

Table 5.1 Training ....................................................................................................................................................28

Table 5.2 Recommendations and costs ...................................................................................................................30

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Introduction

1.1 JMP was commissioned to undertake a piece of research looking at the role of volunteers in the transport

sector as part of the Total Transport Fund initiative. Across North Lincolnshire and North-East Lincolnshire

there are a variety of organisations arranging and providing transport. Many of these use volunteers, either

as drivers or in office roles. Each has its own approach to recruiting, training, retaining and supporting

volunteers.

1.2 For this study the purpose and aims were to:

Undertake a study of the role of volunteers within the caring and accessible transport sector;

Look at the opportunity for a shared recruitment and support initiative;

Consider the context of financial pressures on different part of the public-funded sector; and

Build on examples of best practice examples

Look at the specific requirements for North Lincolnshire and North-East Lincolnshire.

1.3 Those organisations providing caring and accessible transport collectively provide a vast amount of

resource to the community, however it has proved difficult to understand what each of these organisations

is doing in terms of the scale of their operations and how they manage their operations. As part of this

study we sought to engage with all those who have an interest in transport provided in the voluntary sector.

1.4 Our methodology for this study included:

Discussing the aims and aspirations of the study with both North-East Lincolnshire and North

Lincolnshire project leads;

Listing the key stakeholders and understanding how each fits into the context of the project;

Assessing the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats for the organisations with an interest

in the voluntary section;

Presenting recommendations and conclusions, with ideas for the key opportunities for the sector.

1.5 Our report is structured as follows:

Section 1: Introduction

Section 2: Stakeholder organisations

Section 3: SWOT Analysis

Section 4: Specific initiatives

Section 5: Recommendations / conclusions

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2 Stakeholder organisations

2.1 The research involved contacting as many different interested parties as possible, in order to understand

their activities, their use of volunteers, and any issues or ideas they wished to raise.

2.2 As part of our approach to engaging with those organisations providing transport we arranged to speak to

a number of stakeholders either by phone or in person. The table below summarises the organisations we

were able to engage with at some level, whilst setting out those who we were unable to contact or who

did not wish to be part of the project.

Table 2.1 Voluntary Transport organisations and their engagement

Organisations engaged Organisations not engaged

North-East Lincolnshire Council Dial-a-Ride, Grimsby

North Lincolnshire Council Voluntary Action North East Lincolnshire (VANEL)

Voluntary Action North Lincolnshire Foresight

Age UK North East Lincolnshire Shalom

Age UK North Lincolnshire Likeage

Humber & Wolds Rural Community Council The Grimsby Institute

North Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group The Goodwill Motorist Friendship Group

Care Plus Group YMCA

Friendship at Home Liftshare

Families First

Phone ‘n’ Ride (North East Lincolnshire Council)

Care Team Transport (North Lincolnshire Council)

Side Door Church

Wolds Minibus

Stronger Communities Team (North Lincolnshire Council)


2.3 From our consultation with the engaged organisations we have produced a summary of the key points

raised.

CHARITY ORGANISATIONS

Age UK North Lincolnshire

2.4 As an organisation serving those aged over 50 in North Lincolnshire, Age UK has a branch in the area

which provides a variety of services. The branch has a number of vehicles and provides transport for other

groups where there is capacity to do so.

Characteristic Comments

Operations

7 vehicles (1x12-seater minibus, 2x14 seater minibuses, 2 people

carriers, 1x16-seater)

Have replaced an ageing fleet and have retained one

older 16 seater vehicle.

Journeys include shopping trips, medical appointments, CCG

funded home-to-home transport (Winter Pressure contract), day

trips for care home patients

Income being generated through the Winter Pressure

contract (which finishes at the end of April 2016) and

funding is provided for care home patients to go out

on day trips through personal budgets.

Users of the shopper services are charged £3 for

each trip.

Demand is currently being met Some capacity for other groups to use the vehicles,

e.g. Winterton

Disabled Club. All vehicles are out early morning to

mid/late afternoon and some weekend

Have looked at hiring vehicles from external organisations. Local Authority vehicles have limited availability due

to other commitments and incur a charge.

Work in collaboration with Humber & Wolds Rural Community

Council where appropriate

Volunteers / staff

Two full-time volunteers and one part-time volunteers run the

transport department

Malcolm (full time) gets a lot of pleasure from helping

others.

Volunteer administration staff are both ageing which may cause

an issue

Potentially look at recruiting a new person on a part-

time basis for succession planning purposes.

Approximately 10 part-time drivers Have the motivation of giving something back to the

community.

Two people provide volunteer coordination support.

Volunteers are recruited through word-of-mouth or Voluntary

Action North Lincolnshire (VANL)

Induction packs and full training is provided, including MiDAS and

dementia friends short course. Travel expenses to the depot are

covered and food is provided at a reduced rate

High retention rate for volunteers.

There is an opportunity for Age UK to provide training

and guidance to other schemes.

MiDAS training is expensive and is provided in Goole.

Journeys / users

A written log of journeys is made in a diary Potential to introduce a scheduling system, but needs

to be reliable.

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The written log is usually at someone’s house and it

could be difficult to persuade them to move to an

online system.

Other comments

There is currently some Lottery funding for the ‘benefits advice

programme’.

Pulse Regeneration is undertaking a SWOT analysis

of the organisation.

Potential to introduce a Network of Volunteer Transport Groups. Might be difficult due to the lack of manpower at

organisations, but occasional meetings could be

useful.

MiDAS training is expensive Possibility to be provided with funding to allow

someone to attend the ‘train the trainer’ course for

MiDAS.

Age UK North East Lincolnshire

2.5 As an organisation serving those aged over 50 in North East Lincolnshire, Age UK has a branch in the

area which provides a variety of services. The transport it directly delivers itself is small in terms of the

number of volunteers, but with two minibuses on the road at certain times each day, it provides a much

needed service to the local community.


Operations

The branch has four vehicles, two of which are minibuses used by

people. The two other vehicles are vans used by the shops for the

collection/delivery of goods. Of the four drivers, two are

volunteers.

The branch looked at providing all transport by

volunteers, however it was felt that the use of a

regular paid member of staff was good for users of

the minibuses. A regular driver has more

awareness of the needs of the passengers and

can provide reassurance to the users.

There is a rota of chaperons on vehicles. These are provided on

each minibus run.

Whilst this is not a regular volunteer there is a

small group who are on a rota.

Volunteers / staff

In transport terms there is one voluntary driver and one paid driver

with a 20 hour a week contract.

When a person expresses an interest in joining Age UK they are

interviewed. If they are successful they are given a tour of the

building. This is followed by a DBS check and Health & Safety

induction.

Some volunteers are able to start straightaway

without a DBS check as they are not in contact

with vulnerable people and/or working alone.

There is interest in a volunteer brokerage scheme; this would

make it easier to find a driver when regular drivers are on holiday.

Finding drivers can be difficult, either permanent or relief drivers.

At present there is an informal arrangement

whereby Dial-A-Ride will lend vehicles to Age UK

when its own minibuses are off the road, and vice

versa. There is not the same option for drivers,

therefore at busy periods it may be possible to

borrow a vehicle and source a driver through the

brokerage scheme. Sometimes, if a vehicle cannot

be sourced, Age UK has to hire a minibus from a

commercial operator.


Age UK would be keen to expand the shopping trip offer if they

can cover the costs. There is downtime with the branch’s vehicles

at present which could be used.

Age UK North East Lincolnshire could look to take

on the lost services that Care Plus Group operated

assuming they can be operated to cover their

costs.

Most recruitment takes place from VANEL who advertise both

one-off and repeat opportunities. Other avenues include the Age

UK website, noticeboards, email and Facebook.

There are a number of volunteers across the branch, including

roles in catering and administration.

The branch encourages people who are out of

employment to take up opportunities. Two

members of staff who now work for the branch had

previously been on JCP work placements.

Journeys / users

Whilst the branch is not a membership organisation there is a

discount for those members who use the Age UK transport for day

trips.

There are a number of different types of trips, including shopping

(fortnightly), daytrips (seasonal) and lunch clubs (3 days a week).

Lunch clubs – 3 times a week starting at 1200.

The pick-up times for these can be as early as

0930/1000. The transport will drop them off and

allow them time for shopping afterwards. Fee is

£3.00/£3.50.

Shopping trips – these are fortnightly and rotate

between four local supermarkets. There is

flexibility to add another trip in each week if there

is the demand. Fee is £3.00/£3.50.

Day trips – these are generally seasonal, but

travel to a variety of destinations including

Scunthorpe market, Leeds, and Harrogate.

Charges range from £5 - £30.

For each event a waiting list is operated if all the spaces are

booked. For the most popular day trips a local coach operate are

hired and, even then, sometimes has to be supplemented with a

minibus.

For some lunch clubs people find their own

transport and use Dial-A-Ride, Phone ‘n’ Ride and

taxi operators.

Bookings are taken on the phone, email or Facebook. Details are

also shared with other organisations, including Friendship at

Home and the Adult Social Care department at the Council.

A scheduling system is not necessarily required at

present. Whilst there are many users there are

only two vehicles to schedule.

Other comments

The future challenges for the branch are to generate sufficient

income from the different trips to cover the costs of running the

vehicles and paying staff.

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Humber & Wolds Rural Community Council

2.6 Humber & Wolds Rural Community Council (RCC) is based in Barton-upon-Humber and operates a wide

variety of services outside of their transport remit, including a Wheels to Work scheme, a Village Hall

Advisory Service and oil co-operative.

2.7 The consultation with Humber & Wolds RCC is summarised below. However, as part of its volunteer

engagement, information has been gathered about the motivations of volunteers in being part of a

voluntary car scheme. Volunteer motivations included:

Wanting to help people in the community;

Helping those who are less fortunate;

To meet new people and have a chat;

Hearing about people’s life experiences;

Having free time to fill;

Enjoy having the flexibility of being part of a scheme; and

Feeling valued.


Operations

Operate a wide variety of schemes, including a Voluntary Car

Scheme and Wheels-to-Work scheme

Operate in North Lincolnshire, but keen to expand into North-East

Lincolnshire

There have been investigations in the past about

setting up a Voluntary Car Scheme in North East

Lincolnshire by different organisations, therefore

there is an opportunity for Humber & Wolds RCC

to lead on this.

Transport mainly provided to hospitals, shopping trips and visits to

Wellbeing Hubs. Focus mainly on elderly, but provide some

transport for younger, disabled people.

Priority is always given to hospital appointments,

but there is an awareness that there is some

demand from other groups, particularly younger

people.

Younger, disabled people are provided with

transport if there is capacity.

Have a target of 8,000-8,500 journeys per/month Average approximately 7,500 journeys per month.

Figures are limited by the number of users rather

than volunteer numbers.

No longer own any vehicles The minibuses did not provide enough flexibility for

the scheme.

Provided with £15,000 of funding from North Lincolnshire Council

and £16,800 through the Wellbeing Hubs work

The money from North Lincolnshire covers staff

time and overheads.

Previously held a number of school contracts No contracts are currently held due to the level of

commitment required for these. The amount of

transport available to provide this is limited when

people have holidays booked.

Volunteers / staff

Currently has 26 volunteers, with a further 13 being trained. After a recent campaign on local radio advertising

the scheme 13 people got in touch about possible

volunteering. The advert was free.


Volunteers are recruiting mainly through leaflets, adverts, word of

mouth and Voluntary Action North Lincolnshire

Doctors also provide referrals to the scheme to

provide an option for people who find it difficult to

reach their appointments.

Volunteers have to pass on charges for using the Humber Bridge

and hospital car parks to customers

Potential to help broker an arrangement for

Voluntary Car Scheme drivers. May require a

calculation to be undertaken to place a value on

the role of Volunteers Car Schemes to emphasise

their importance.

Journeys / users

The scheme is advertised using leaflets which are situated at key

points, as well as local paper adverts.

In order to reach the target of 8,500 journeys each

month wider appeal might be required, for

example to younger, isolated people.

Assistance may be required to increase the links

between organisations that could make use of the

capacity available.

Other comments

A brokerage scheme would be useful to source vehicles. Potential to help broker an arrangement for

Voluntary Car Scheme drivers. May require a

calculation to be undertaken to place a value on

the role of Volunteers Car Schemes to emphasise

their importance.

It may be worth investigating whether a brokerage scheme for

volunteer drivers would be useful (a volunteer bureau).

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Friendship-at-Home

2.8 Friendship-at-Home provides services for older people, including a befriending service, social activities,

information and advice, as well as physical activity. The aim of these activities is help tackle specific issues

affecting the elderly, including loneliness, depression and isolation. The befriending service includes a

variety of activities, including visits to member’s homes, social clubs and an independent living service.


Operations

The organisation provides a phone and ride services for groups,

particularly for social events, as well as a voluntary car scheme.

Covers North-East Lincolnshire

Currently the demand is not being met. There are only a small number of volunteer

drivers.

Volunteers / staff

Volunteer drivers undertake social, shopping, medical and lunch

club transport. There are 2 or 3 drivers.

For recruitment the radio and Facebook is used.

For new volunteers there is an application form, interview, DBS

and a need for reference. After this a formal induction is provided.

Friendship-at-Home provide on-going training to volunteers,

including life skills. This includes First Aid and confident building.

Whilst the additional life skill training may be of

particular interest for people of working age and/or

out of work, this is likely to be less appealing to

volunteer drivers who are generally either close to

retirement or retired.

Journeys / users

The group make 50-75 return journeys a year and charge £2

booking fee on each journey.

With additional volunteer drivers the shortfall in

capacity could be resolved.

There may be an issue for some volunteers that

there is not enough work to meet their

expectations. A brokerage scheme for volunteers

may be more suitable for the organisation.

It is the feeling that more people would use the service if more

transport was available.

Through the extra provision of transport it may

allow other services Friendship-at-Home to

expand.

Other comments

The group is keen to use under-utilised vehicles. The vehicles

would need to be accessible vehicles and affordable.

This would require both the coordination of

vehicles, as well and a recruitment drive for the

organisation. Depending on the nature of the word

there may also be a need for scheduling support.


OTHER ORGANISATIONS

Care Plus Group

2.9 Care Plus Group is a social enterprise providing services for the adult social care sector in North-East

Lincolnshire. The aim of the organisation is to help improve people’s health and wellbeing (both physically

and mentally), and improve people’s lives.


Operations

As of March 2016 there were nine 16 seater accessible vehicles

general used to take people to day centres. This is due to fall in

the coming months.

With the reduction in the number of services to be

provided there will be less demand for the

vehicles.

The escort function on the minibuses will be covered by support

workers.

It was felt that volunteers would be unsuitable for

regular journeys as some of the users have

complex needs. It was also felt that a regular

escort allowing them to gain the trust of users.

As an organisation Care Plus are looking to provide more

community focussed activities to reduce demand for travel.

Volunteers / staff

The paid staff directly linked to transport Maria Tomkinson (Head

of Transport) and Mandy Matthews (Day-care Centre Manager).

All drivers are paid and work split shifts following a review. There

are no volunteer drivers.

There are no volunteers drivers as, when changes

were made the contracted hours of drivers a

guarantee was provided that they would not be

replaced.

A CPC is required for drivers. This adds additional costs.

Training is provided so they understand the complex needs of

users.

By using paid staff the training is focussed on less

people, but will provide more consistency for

users.

In other parts of Care Plus Group most volunteers are recruited

through word-of-mouth. There is a good gender balance.

Many people who have had help through the

organisation come back as volunteers.

As part of volunteer inductions there is a DBS check, local building

induction, corporate induction and any specific training (for

example, safeguarding).

The organisation has enough volunteers and is aware of the risks

of having too many.

It is acknowledged that if there are too many

volunteers it may result in some people being

overlooked and not being given adequate time.

Journeys / users

Wheelchair users and walkers are catered for by Care Plus Group

transport and journeys start from 0730.

There are three cohorts of users:

- Adult Social Care – has experienced large budget cuts.

Day centre have had to reconfigure there start/finish

times.

- Individuals who have a commissioned service

(assessed against the complexity of needs and ability to

pay)

- Private clients i.e. non-eligible

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There is a lack of vehicles adapted for disabled people. This can

be limited by SEN school runs at certain times.

People who are unable to have transport through Care Plus

generally phone either Dial-a-Ride, Phone ‘n’ Ride, taxi operators

or public transport.

These different options have a range of prices for

individuals.

Shopping journeys have now been cut due to changes in policy,

including split shifts for drivers to reduce operating costs.

There are possibilities for others to look at carrying

out this function.

No journeys are scheduled using any specific software. Because of the complexity of different users it can

be difficult to put these requirements into a

system, for example keeping the same staff on

certain routes.

There is an interest in looking at using existing

system at North-East Lincolnshire Council. It will

depend on the IT implications.

Other comments

Following a business review the Head of Operations promised

drivers that they would not be replaced by volunteers.

This has made it difficult to retain any shopper

services because, with paid drivers, they are not

financially viable.

There is the potential for other volunteer organisations to use the

downtime of vehicles for other groups.

The organisation has gone through a lot of change

in recent months, therefore it would be something

to look at in the future.

There are hundreds of volunteers across the organisation who are

not linked to transport.

Potential for these to be approached about an

involvement in transport, or to be used as a

network to help recruit more volunteers for

transport.

There is some uncertainty about funding. This concern is also linked to the worry that there

will be a lack of transport and that there will be a

major shortfall to get people to the activities put

on.

Care Plus Group have offered to provide some dementia training

to other transport providers (for example, taxi drivers).

There is some potential in rolling this initiative out

to drivers both in the commercial and voluntary

sector. Funding may be required to do so.


Voluntary Action North Lincolnshire (VANL)

2.10 VANL have a key role to play in the recruitment of volunteers across the third sector, with voluntary car

organisations using them direction to increase their numbers.


Operations

Run a quality assured volunteer brokerage service through

Facebook, Twitter, Do-It and outreach sessions.

VANL have a strong reputation as a long-standing volunteer

centre.

In addition to this VANL would be the most logical

organisation for a brokerage scheme to exist

within.

Organisation who have vacancies generally provide a role

description.

Volunteers / staff

VANL recruit volunteers for a number of organisations, including

the Council, Police, NHS and various volunteer car schemes.

Lead on two employer sponsored volunteering programmes for

two companies.

There are 13 permanent and 4 supply members of staff. There has been some loss of staff due to roles

becoming increasingly difficult to the pressures

associated with them.

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LOCAL AUTHORITY TRANSPORT

Phone ‘n’ Ride

2.11 Phone ‘n’ Ride was set up in 2005 primarily aimed at rural areas. There are no volunteer drivers; all staff

are paid. Essential Fleet Services delivers the contract.


Operations

Demand Responsive Transport provided by North-East

Lincolnshire Council with three vehicles.

Whilst the service is ‘at capacity’ there could be

work done with volunteer organisations to cover

the shortfall.

It has no fixed route or timetable. This provides a full flexible services within the

capacity of the scheme (specifically whether a

vehicle is available and whether the capacity is

available in the right location).

Operates Monday – Saturday between 0700 and 1900 with drivers

operating split shifts (0700 – 1300 and 1245 – 1900).

There are four vehicles (2 x 8 seater and 2 x 11 seaters) which

are fully-accessible.

Scheduling is undertaken using Trapeze v13. With Trapeze already in use there is likely to be

less scope to improve efficiencies with vehicles as

the fleet currently stands.

Journeys are scheduled six days in advance.

Volunteers / staff

All staff are paid. This is funded by North-East Lincolnshire Council.

Staff adhere to a Code of Conduct.

The drivers are based in Louth, but are transported to the

company’s base in Grimsby.

Journeys / users

Primarily operates in North-East Lincolnshire

There is a zonal fare system; each area either driven within or

driven into has a charge.

The scheme makes approximately 27,000 journeys a year.

Phone ‘n’ Ride work closely with Dial-A-Ride. Between the two

organisations they recommend each other should one be more

suited to a user’s needs.

Phone ‘n’ Ride undertakes work for Care Plus Group when there

is a shortfall in their transport.

This type of work has been for shopping trips,

however Care Plus Group are withdrawing funding

for these because of the cost of doing so.

Undertake some work for Friendship at Home and Families First.

Have looked to coordinate some journeys in the past rather than

transporting individuals.

This could be looked at again in light of

discussions with other operators who provide

transport and have the aspiration of expanding.

There has been an increase in demand from support workers. As support workers do not have their own

transport for users they look elsewhere for


support, however due to complexity of user’s

needs this cannot be catered for.

There are approximately 200-300 declined journeys a month. This

is usually due to people with set time requirements who cannot be

fitted in.

There is a surge in demand between 0900 and

1400 mainly for medical appointments, with most

capacity between 1600 and 1700. There is

potential to ask a voluntary organisation to meet

the demand for regular journeys, therefore filling

the gap. This may be of particular use for those

Care Plus Group journeys which are no longer

being catered for.

Side Door Methodist Church

2.12 Previously the Side Door Methodist Church had one minibus, however this is no longer the case. The

church no longer provides transport directly and most people now arrange their own transport.

2.13 There is an informal arrangement between members of the congregation who provide transport for each

other in order to reach services and events.

Wolds Minibus

2.14 The Wolds Minibus is owned by the community and is hired out to various groups, including the elderly

and disabled, schools, sporting clubs and residential homes.

Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Dial-A-Ride

2.15 The research on Dial-A-Ride service is desk-based as we were unable to engage with the organisation

through the project.

2.16 From its latest submission to the Charities Commission for 2014/15 the following headline figures have

taken:

The organisation has 16 wheelchair accessible minibuses;

It make over 60,000 journeys last year; and

Passengers were transported over 500,000 km.

2.17 From meeting with other organisations it is clear that Dial-A-Ride provides a service for a large number of

residents, particularly when they cannot be catered for by smaller schemes. They are a membership

scheme and provide a lot of journeys to doctor’s surgeries, for visiting and activities for the elderly. Another

consultee commented that they have ‘good knowledge locally what the needs of users are’.

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Families First

2.18 North East Lincolnshire Council operate a service called ‘Families First’ which is a ‘prevention and early

intervention approach to provide better integrated services across family support’1. Families First has been

running for 15 years. The transport operation sector in Families First is to transport vulnerable children

and young adults, as well as those with Special Educational Needs.


Operations

The transport provided is general to get children to different

services or appointments, for example medical appointments,

respite, school runs and prison visits.

Volunteers / staff

There are 7 drivers; 1 is full-time and the remainder are part-time

(4 days on, 4 days off).

Drivers are sometimes recruited through VANEL.

Volunteer drivers receive 45p p/m and paid at minimum wage for

waiting time.

The mileage is reduced when people are paid

waiting time as they do not have to make a double

run.

This practice is not in line with the rest of the

sector, with exception of North East Lincolnshire

Council.

Families First like to use the same drivers as the users appreciate

it. The volunteers are also said to be preferred by the users as a

possible to unknown taxi drivers.

Journeys / users

The amount of transport provided varies depending on the needs

of users and the amount of budget available to do so.

There is a cap on the amount of transport available

due to budget constraints and journeys may be

referred back to Social Services in this instance.

If there is a shortage in the number of drivers available approved

taxi companies are used as an alternative.

A volunteer brokerage scheme may be of use to

cover for periods when drivers are unavailable,

particularly during school holiday times. The

drivers would need to be appropriately trained to

work with some people who have complex needs.

1 North East Lincolnshire Council (2016): ‘Families First – Children and families’. [URL: https://www.nelincs.gov.uk/children-and-families/]


North Lincolnshire Transport Solutions

2.19 Transport Solutions are part of North Lincolnshire Council and provide transport for young people in need

who come through Social Services. The age of users is generally under 7.


Operations

Most journeys are constrained to North Lincolnshire, however

some cross-boundary trips are made to special schools, hospital

appointments and secure units.

The budget now sits in the Transport Unit having

been transferred from Children’s Services.

Volunteers / staff

Currently have 12 drivers, but looking to recruit another five. Despite advertising through a poster campaign

recruitment has been a struggle. HR has put a

banner up on the Council’s job site.

Two drivers have recently been recruited, two are being trained

and three have just applied.

This increase in drivers is to cover for the recent

reduction in drivers which has been linked to

some people having become volunteer drivers

having taken early retirement, but have gone back

to work. Retention, however, is generally very

good.

The availability of volunteers can be limited and they do have the

right to turn down work.

Drivers are paid 45p p/m and the minimum wage for waiting time. The mileage is reduced when people are paid

waiting time as they do not have to make a double

run.

This practice is not in line with the rest of the

sector, with exception of North East Lincolnshire

Council.

As part of their training drivers receive guidance on safeguarding

(delivered by Social Services), an induction to the role, a volunteer

driver handbook and details about the DBS check.

General there are no escorts used on these journeys, but this will

depend on the child.

If there were a greater use of escorts it may be

possible that that specific role could be covered

by volunteers.

Journeys / users

There is no scheduling software, this is despite the hundreds of

runs each day.

It is perceived that drivers are fully utilised, however

it is likely that scheduling software could achieve

efficiencies in the schedules.

Requests for journeys comes through Social Services. An

available driver is then contacted and, if they are available, the

journey is diarised.

If there are no drivers available, the alternative

options are to use approved taxi drivers or Social

Services

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North Lincolnshire Council Stronger Communities Team

2.20 Within the Authority is a department which works closely with the voluntary sector and has a key interest

in how those organisations function. When asked about there were several comments and issues raised:

There is a lack of drivers and difficulty in retention;

There is limited diversity amongst volunteers, however it is recognised that there is limited

attraction to the role of driving during traditional working hours.

North Lincolnshire Council has vehicles which are underused which could be used by volunteer

organisations.

HEALTH TRANSPORT

North Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group

2.21


Operations

Non-Emergency Patient Transport for North Lincolnshire and

North East Lincolnshire is currently provided by East Midlands

Ambulance Service, but is currently being re-procured (starts

October 2016). It is led by the North Lincolnshire Clinical

Commissioning Group.

The Voluntary Car Scheme drivers generally undertake work with

renal patients and for other ad hoc patient appointments.

There is no stipulation in the contract that volunteers should be

used; it is for East Midlands Ambulance Service to decide how to

operate the contract. The primary consideration in delivery is that

they meet their KPIs.

The cost savings made by using volunteers is

realised by the East Midlands Ambulance Service

and not the Clinical Commissioning Group.

A stipulation that operators should use voluntary

organisation in their contract delivery should result

in a lower block contract price.

The contract is for a block of work and is not paid per journey.

Volunteers / staff

There are approximately 75 volunteer drivers.

There is a reference to adequate training for all drivers, including

volunteers.

Journeys / users

The ‘Winter Pressure’ contract is delivered by Humber & Wolds

RCC.

There is no Volunteer Car Scheme which is comprehensive.

Other comments

The Clinical Commissioning Group is considering how renal

patient transport can be more personalised. This could include

using a Volunteer Car Scheme.


It was suggested that Care Plus Group could facilitate combining

journeys with different purposes and lead coordination, for

example renal patients and day centres.

This would require a scheduling system to ensure

all journeys are coordinated where appropriate.

There may be a need for a critical mass on users

to make joint journeys possible and practicable.

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3 SWOT Analysis

3.1 As part of our assessment of the voluntary transport in North Lincolnshire and North-East Lincolnshire a

SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis has been undertaken to show the

potential future direction of the sector whist recognising the challenges that currently exist.

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

Significant amounts of transport are provided using

volunteers.

Organisations have a high retention rate for

volunteers.

Recent recruitment campaigns have boosted the total

number of volunteer drivers.

Most volunteer organisation are happy to recruit their

own volunteers and know where to go to should they

need help.

Volunteer organisations are well connected and,

generally, when they are unable to fulfil a journey they

are able to recommend others.

Inconsistency in the level of training provided to

volunteers by different organisations.

Some schemes have too much work to be covered by

the drivers they have, whilst others are not meeting

targets and have an over-supply.

There is limited diversity in all organisations which rely

on volunteer drivers with the majority of drivers being

older and retired.

The volunteer car scheme model is not readily

available across North East Lincolnshire.

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

A scheme to coordinate training could be useful (for

example, MiDAS training).

One organisation could lead on different aspects of

training to both generate income and reduce the cost

of training for other organisations (for example MiDAS

training, dementia-friendly training).

There is some demand for organisations to use

vehicles which have downtime during the day,

including Humber & Wolds RCC, Friendship-at-Home

(both vary in size).

Amongst organisations in the third-sector there is an

interest in expanding their capacity/offer.

There is a willingness from organisations to provide

training to commercial operators (for example Care

Plus Group to local taxi drivers).

Extension of or the creation of a new Voluntary

Scheme to cover new areas, including Scunthorpe

(potentially Humber & Wolds RCC or Age UK North

Lincolnshire).

The North Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group

is considering how to personalise transport for renal

patients, which could create an opportunity to expand

and develop schemes.

If volunteers feel under-utilised they are likely to seek

volunteering opportunities elsewhere, possibly out of

transport.

Most organisations do not have any scheduling

software to allow for future growth in either scheme

users or volunteers. Efficiencies could be made with

less drivers by having such software.

Budget cuts in local authorities may have an impact on

the amount of transport they can provide, particularly

for Social Services which is non-statutory transport.

The demand for transport delivered by the voluntary

sector may continue to be put under-pressure to deliver

more when constraints, such as the number of

volunteers and a lack of scheduling software, limit this

possibility.


4 Specific Initiatives

TIME BANKING

What is Time Banking?

4.1 Time Banking is a way of sharing skills and time, and is based on the principle that everyone has

something that they can offer to someone else. The Foresight Time Banking scheme (funded by Lloyds

TSB) started in April 2013 and is available within the North and North East Lincolnshire area, as well as

East Lindsey.

4.2 The vision of the scheme is that as the more people share their time, skills and friendship the happier and

healthier the community will become. With time banking everyday acts of kindness are recognised as an

important contribution to an individual’s wellbeing.

4.3 Time banks can consist of a small number of people in the same street, a church congregation, a social

group that meets regularly or individuals in a particular area. Time Banking schemes are people-focussed

and, as they fit in with the people who are involved it is unlikely that two Time Banks will be the same.

How does it work?

4.4 Participants of the scheme list the skills and experience which they can offer along with those skills that

they need. This can be a simple job done for another person such as helping them write Christmas cards

or passing on a skill to a group, such as sewing or card making. Everyone’s skills are valued equally and

for every hour given, one credit is received. Participants are encouraged to spend their time credits to

allow others the chance to make a difference and be needed.

Time Banking and Transport

4.5 One of the ways in which Time Banking can be used is to provide transport for those people without cars

or access to public transport. An example of this could be people coming together to help out an individual

such as organising a rota to make sure someone gets to their hospital appointments.

National Time Banking scheme

4.6 TimeBank is a national volunteering charity that recruits and trains volunteers to deliver mentoring projects

to tackle complex social problems. The Switch is a Time Bank mentoring project which has been effective

in helping people improve their confidence through meeting new people and negotiating busy

environments, such as the public transport network. This growth in confidence appears to be a precursor

for many other positive changes in their lives, such as accessing education, employment and/or

volunteering.

Time Credits

4.7 As part of a scheme with Lancashire County Council and Chorley Council introduced in 2012, a ‘time

credit’ initiative was developed as a way of ‘enabling local people to make a difference in their communities

and local public services’2. Whilst is was initially aimed at people volunteering in the health and social care

sector this has now been made available more widely across the community. For each hour a person

2 Chorley Council (2016): ‘Time Credits’. [URL: http://chorley.gov.uk/Pages/AtoZ/Lancashire-Time-Credits.aspx]

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donates their time they are a credit; these collated credits can then be used on a variety of activities in the

local area, including swimming sessions, adult learning courses, the theatre and children play centre

sessions. By providing this incentive the contribution of individuals is recognised, whilst encouraging

people to become more involved in their local community.

4.8 The figure below shows how time credits work in practice.

Figure 4.1 Time credits - how do they work?

Chorley Council (2016): ‘Time credits’

ADVICE FOR VOLUNTEER ORGANISATIONS

4.9 From speaking to organisations in North and North-East Lincolnshire it is apparent that there are a number

of different approaches to recruiting, training and retaining drivers. Within some local authorities there is

a guide for such organisations; these guides set out advice in terms of:

Best practice and legal requirements;

Driver guidelines;

Recruitment of volunteers; and

Record keeping.

Recruitment advice, support and campaigning

4.10 The Wales Council for Voluntary Action produced a guide in 2006 specifically looking at the recruitment

of volunteers, with information ranging from the different approached, communication methods, increasing

diversity and retaining volunteers. This type of document could be used as the basis for organisation who

may wish to expand their operations or look again at their approach to recruitment.

4.11 Hampshire County Council has developed a number of resources for volunteer car and minibus

organisations in order to make the recruitment and registration of volunteers easier. These resources

include3:

3 Hampshire County Council (2016): 'Volunteer drivers wanted!]. [URL: http://www3.hants.gov.uk/passengertransport/communitytransport/ctvolunteering/volunteerdrivers.htm]


Film clips on volunteer driving;

Advice on becoming a driver;

An audio recording to advertise the campaign;

Life stories from people who had become volunteer drivers; and

An arrangement with the volunteer centre network to assist volunteer organisations.

4.12 The recruitment campaign is on-going and, since its launch in 2012, there have been over 75 new

volunteers’ sign up to the voluntary car schemes. Since its original launch additional resources have been

made available, including a campaign newsletter, a free ‘recruitment pack’ for volunteer organisations, as

well and a series of film clips showing what it is like to be a volunteer driver.

4.13 In Somerset, the County Council uses an organisation called ‘Somerset You Can Do’4 to recruit volunteers

for a variety of activities linked to social care and for its transport service (volunteer car scheme that

provides transport for health and social care trips). The organisation is part of Careers South West Ltd, a

not for profit social enterprise. It advertises, recruits and checks volunteers and people are able to apply

on-line. As well as recruiting for the County Council, it does help source volunteers for local community

car schemes and works with village agents to promote those local car schemes.

Advisory Guides

4.14 Looking at the specific advice for volunteer recruitment and training in the Hampshire County Council

guide5 it sets out what an application form should cover, including health, reference and any criminal

convictions, as well as a driver’s availability and car details. It is advised that the form should also cover

the DBS check requirements and the other documentation required, namely the insurance and MOT

documents.

4.15 In the Forest of Dean a volunteer handbook6 has been developed for all providers of community transport.

It covers a number of areas, including contact details, care standards, a code of conduct, procedures and

policies.

4.16 There is an opportunity for similar guidelines to be provided to organisations in North and North-East

Lincolnshire, which could include some documentation to assist.

VOLUNTEER BROKERAGE SCHEME

4.17 The consultation revealed some interest in a volunteer driver brokerage scheme which would have the

benefit of:

Helping to source drivers who may have capacity issues

Identifying drivers who may be able to drive certain vehicles (for example, those with D1 category

endorsement to drive minibuses carrying 9-16 people).

4.18 There is some concern amongst some organisations that they are limited in their ability to expand. There

is a need to balance having enough volunteers in order to expand, whilst meeting the requirements of

work from existing volunteers. This is where a brokerage scheme could push an organisation’s boundaries

4 Somerset You Can Do It (2016). URL: http://www.somersetyoucando.org.uk

5 Hampshire County Council (2014): ‘Good Practice Guide for Volunteer Car Schemes’. [URL: http://www3.hants.gov.uk/good_neighbours_support_service_good_practice_guidelines_april_2014.pdf]

6 Forest of Dean Council (2016): ‘The Volunteer Driver handbook’.

http://www3.hants.gov.uk/good_neighbours_support_service_good_practice_guidelines_april_2014.pdf

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to move into new areas of work through a flexible pool of volunteers. This would not inhibit organisations

in having their own dedicated volunteers, but allow for resource-sharing where appropriate.

4.19 The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) suggests that volunteer centres can play a role

in providing such a scheme with the outcome of ‘matching individuals and groups interesting in volunteers

with appropriate opportunities in their community’7. These centres can also hold a whole range of available

opportunities to volunteers and match people as appropriate.

4.20 Volunteer Bristol operates a brokerage scheme which has over 4,000 volunteers and is open to all

volunteer organisations. To register an opportunity they require a form to be completed which is then

advertised through the volunteer database, social media, the website, bulletins and events (where

appropriate)8.

7 National Council for Voluntary Organisations (2016): ‘Volunteer Centres’. [URL: https://www.ncvo.org.uk/practical-support/volunteering/volunteer-centres].

8 Volunteer Bristol (2016): ‘Volunteer opportunity registration’. [URL: http://www.volunteerbristol.org.uk/organisations/opportunity-form]


5 Conclusions and recommendations

5.1 After undertaking consultation with a variety of stakeholders across the public and third sectors, there are

a number of themes that have emerged. These lead to a number of potential recommendations for

supporting future volunteering in the caring and accessible transport sector.

5.2 Overall, organisations did not suggest that there were major issues or constraints to be addressed. Whilst

uncertainties around funding and a continued need to recruit new volunteers were issues, organisations

were not looking for significant change. They were generally able to balance the level of service provided

with the demands upon them and do this within the bounds of their own resources. Whilst there was a

willingness to assist other organisations informally, there was no appetite for formal integration or merger

of activities.

5.3 On the whole, sufficient numbers of volunteers were available, although it is likely that any suggestion of

major change or collaborative working would meet resistance. However, providing a more supportive

network to assist organisations may be a helpful move. Indeed, some organisations indicated that they

would positively welcome this. Such areas of support might include:

Training;

Coordinated recruitment of volunteers;

Volunteer brokerage scheme to cover any shortfall in resource (e.g. volunteers on holiday);

A volunteer handbook; and

Minibus brokerage scheme.

5.4 This network could allow for both formal and informal collaboration between organisations. The most

appropriate organisation(s) to oversee such a scheme would be the two voluntary sector support agencies

(VANL and VANEL). However, further work would need to be undertaken to establish how this would

work for the various stakeholder organisations. At present few of the voluntary organisations providing

transport organisations make full use of VANL or VANEL.

5.5 By working together, and assisted by VANL and VANEL, the network could develop common processes

and procedures for volunteer recruitment, such as role descriptions, application forms and reference

checks. Whilst each organisation would operate its own induction, there would still be some common

features that could be incorporated. A more standardised approach would also make it easier for

organisations to share volunteers through a brokerage scheme.

RECRUITMENT

5.6 Through the consultation with organisations it would appear that, on the whole, organisations are

successfully recruiting volunteers using a variety of approaches. Very few use specific volunteer

recruitment organisations (for example, VANEL and VANL), despite awareness of both organisations

being high. The most popular methods being ‘word of mouth’ and local campaigns. Word of mouth is a

particularly important tool; it is fair to suggest that as people are more likely to show an interest in

volunteers for an organisation if someone they know has a positive experience of being involved. This is

consistent with other volunteer transport organisations in other parts of the country and would suggest

that this is a successful approach, if not the most successful.

5.7 Whilst the perception from outside organisations is that there is a shortage of volunteers for driving roles

this is not reflected in the views of volunteer organisations. It has been acknowledged within some

organisations that they would like more drivers, however this is constrained by aspects including the need

to have enough work to keep existing volunteers happy whilst providing enough transport for users. The

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potential for a volunteer brokerage scheme would help to address temporary shortfalls in volunteer

resources.

5.8 Whilst there is no immediate issue with the number of volunteers available to provide transport the possible

of time-banking could be considered as an incentive. This could also be used to incentive a wider spectrum

of society to be involved in the delivery of these services who, a present, may not have considered such

a role. Whilst this is not an immediate recommendation it could be considered in the future.

TRAINING

5.9 Whilst all organisations undertake some sort of induction with new drivers, the training provided varies.

Very few are offered MiDAS training, for example, but additional training may make it easier for other

organisation to use them to assist when there is a shortage of their own drivers. The table below

summaries some of the options for training.

Table 5.1 Training

Issue / Area for development Option(s)

Inconsistencies in the type of training given to volunteer drivers

Support through the project to develop a best practice guide for induction

Train-the-trainer opportunities Provide training to one or more organisations to provide their own in-house training (for example, MiDAS) which would reduce the cost of volunteers receiving the training. It is also an opportunity for income generation for an organisation to provide training to others.

Expansion of MiDAS training Seek to reduce the cost of MiDAS training, therefore encouraging all organisations to provide this to their drivers.

5.10 Whilst it was not acknowledged among organisations as being a particularly big issue at the present, those

who mentioned D1 licensing were aware that this would become more of an issue as time passed. It may

be suitable to raise awareness amongst stakeholders to highlight the issue in order to ensure

organisations are prepared for it.

VEHICLE RESOURCES

5.11 There is interest in some organisations using vehicles from other organisations. This is of particular

interest to those who have volunteers who would be able to provide additional services, but do not have

the suitable vehicles (for example, Humber & Wolds RCC providing shopper services). Age UK North East

Lincolnshire, who have capacity to deliver shopper services during the week, would be happy to look at

delivering additional services, but may require additional support in terms of ad-hoc vehicle hire and

volunteer support.

OPPORTUNITIES

5.12 Recently there has been an enhanced awareness of helping people to become more active in their

communities, which helps to reduced social isolation, increase a person’s activity and therefore improve

their health. If there is an enhancement in the opportunities available to elderly people in the community

there is also likely to be an increase in the need for transport. This may provide an opportunity for

organisations to look at utilising the downtime of other organisations’ vehicles during the day (say between

0930 and 1430).

5.13 There is demand from the Clinical Commissioning Groups to deliver more personalised services for

patients, including from a transport perspective. Whilst, at present, there is some apprehension amongst

schemes about expanding their operations there is an opportunity for voluntary organisations to prepare


for expansion. There is a need to consider the implications in terms of resources and the balance between

the needs of the organisation, volunteers and the community.

5.14 As mentioned in the previous section there is capacity in Age UK North East Lincolnshire to deliver

additional shopper services. This would be possible by making use of a vehicle(s) during downtime and

would be acceptable if the money collected for using the service covered the costs.

ENGAGEMENT WITH OTHER ORGANISATIONS

5.15 As part of this project it has been difficult to engage with two key stakeholders in voluntary transport.

During the consultation many, if not all, organisation made reference to Grimsby Dial-A-Ride and made

clear how much they work with them either to deliver transport for them as an organisation or signposting

people to them. Further engagement with Dial-A-Ride is important to the success of some of the

recommendations; the full potential of these schemes may not be realised without their engagement. It

becomes particularly difficult without understanding the full extent of their operation, particularly when

looking at the possibility of sharing resources.

5.16 On a positive note there were suggestions from stakeholders that some already have informal

arrangements with Grimsby Dial-A-Ride already. This includes:

Providing vehicles when an organisation has a breakdown;

Referring individuals to Grimsby Dial-A-Ride if they are unable to fulfil a journey; and

Providing group travel support when there is a shortage of suitable vehicles.

5.17 As discussed in this section there is an opportunity for VANEL and/or VANL to as brokers for resources,

however at present only a small number of organisations providing volunteer transport use them. It is

recommended that further engagement work is undertaken to look at the potential for VANL and VANEL

would be interested in providing such a service. This may require a more high-profile approach to both

organisations from within both authorities to encourage engagement about the potential options.

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SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS

5.18 A summary of the key recommendations for the project is provide below;

Table 5.2 Recommendations and costs

# Recommendation Cost

1 No fundamental changes are needed in respect of how volunteer transport organisations function.

Not applicable

2 Develop a support network amongst volunteer transport organisations. This should look specifically at recruitment, training and the potential brokerage schemes. This will also encourage buy-in to any new scheme.

Officer’s time in the short-medium term.

3 Collaborative promotion of VANEL and VANL and the services they offer. This will increase awareness of the services provided and how volunteer transport organisations can take advantage of this.

The organisations could be promoted across the wider voluntary sector.

Officer’s time

Venue costs

Publicity materials (indicative costs):

Pull-Up Banner - £135 exc VAT

50 x A4 Posters - £21 exc VAT

4 Look at providing a more standardised training programme for new drivers, using the skills and experiences of different organisations to deliver this. This could be built into a volunteer’s handbook to include information about the role, the training required and set out the role description for volunteer driving.

Training costs could be reduced if more is made of ‘train the trainer’ courses across voluntary organisations. This could be delivered within the network of transport providers (either the council or a voluntary organisation) at a reduced rate.

5 Development of a volunteer’s handbook to include:

- A role description

- Introduction to role of volunteer driving

- General information, including insurance, HMRC guidelines

- Training for new drivers

- Policies and procedures

This guide will also promote consistency across the schemes.

Officer’s time with distribution either electronically or hard copies.

Printing costs of volunteer handbook.

Cost of updating the handbook.

6 Raise awareness of the implications of the D1 endorsement and how this will impact on organisations in the coming years.

Officer’s time

7 Look to maximise the use of vehicle downtime across organisations to provide new services or to replace those which have been withdrawn, for example shopper services or lunch clubs.

Operating costs - this would be dependent on how many routes are operated, the number of vehicles/driver required and whether fares are collected.

8 Investigate with the Clinical Commissioning Groups whether, in line with their patient personalisation agenda, there is an opportunity for volunteer transport organisations to be more involved in the delivery of non-emergency patient transport.

This may require some officer’s time to facilitate discussions.

9 Seek further engagement with key stakeholders in the region, namely Grimsby Dial-A-Ride, VANL and VANEL. Their involvement is key to success of this for other volunteer transport organisations.

Officer’s time

5.19 At the Project Board meeting on Wednesday 22nd June 2016 the recommendations were approved and

will be taken forward for further considerations.

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