The charity Mid Devon Mobility is based in the town of Tiverton in Devon. It provides multiple services that meet the needs of residents in Mid Devon and North Devon, as well as those visiting the area and passing through it.
The charity is a finalist in multiple in the Community Transport Awards 2023:
- 1 in 2 chance of winning the “Innovation in Volunteering” category.
- 2 in 4 chance of winning the “CT Champion of the Year” (Community Transport Champion of the Year) category.
- 1 in 3 chance of winning the “Partnership of the Year” category.
- 1 in 10 chance of winning the photo competition
Volunteer co-ordinator, Jackie Hammond, nominated stalwart volunteers, Jim Grose and Ro Darlington, in the “CT Champion of the Year” category and writes:
“Jim has been associated with our organisation since 1997. He celebrated his 82nd birthday this year. Back in 2004, Jim was celebrated in Exeter’s “Echo” newspaper when he was nominated as a “Local Hero” and subsequently received the complete surprise of a stunning bouquet of flowers whilst out doing his Community Transport role with some very grateful service users. Nearly two decades later, Jim is STILL providing Community Transport for our service users and remains one of our many regular volunteers.
“Ro has been associated with our organisation since 1995. She celebrated her 80th birthday this year. Ro has been a service user for herself and family and has taken on multiple volunteering roles for us. Her incredible connection with Mid Devon Mobility eventually resulted in Ro being our amazing volunteer Chair of Trustees and she is STILL active in this role. Additionally, Ro is one of our very pro-active office volunteers and she kindly gives us a day of her time each week by coming in to answer phone enquiries and process data on our computer systems.
She goes on to highlight the charity’s case for winning the “Partnership of the Year” category:
“Mid Devon Mobility headed a ‘partnership’ of multiple Community Transport organisations across the South West of England and you can read the final report to see what an incredible network in which the charity played a major role. “
We are beyond proud that the Community Transport Association (CTA) is recognising Mid Devon Mobility, members of our team and the supportive ethos of our organisation, by shortlisting these nominations for awards at national level. It is an honour to be shortlisted, because we are up against some stiff competition! Whether we are successful or not at Birmingham’s NEC on Thursday, we are so grateful of everyone who has helped to keep this organisation successfully operating for three decades and we are representing the goodwill of all people who support their own local Community Transport schemes. Whether shortlisted or not, they all deserve acknowledgement of, and applause for, the highly valued services provided to their own communities.”
“We are also in with the chance of a prize in the photo competition:
“The photo contains two of our regular ladies, Mary and Jackie, out on our Shaw. Our charity, unfortunately, sees all too often how elderly, less mobile people become confined to their own homes or Care Homes. Without help, they lack the freedom to get outdoors and explore the world around them. We researched how we may be able to help, and this led us to create our Tri-Shaw Project which has now been used by many, everyone who has been on it has told us how much they enjoyed it.
“The photo shows that Community Transport is not just buses & large vehicles, it’s also being out and about and having fun together with like-minded people.”
We wish them all the best! We’ll update this article once the results are out.
