MOBILITY MATTERS
TEESSIDE WHEELCHAIR AND DEMENTIA FRIENDLY SERVICE GETS PEOPLE OUT WHO ARE LESS ABLE
A couple who launched a Teesside assisted transport service are happy that they’re helping people to go out who are less able to. Gary Munroe and Jill Suckley started Ring A Ride Teesside, based in Redcar, around seven months ago and it has been getting “busier and busier”, especially since they created their website in December. Ring A Ride is a wheelchair accessible and dementia friendly taxi service that goes the extra mile to make its customers feel comfortable and relaxed. The couple have
undergone
dementia awareness training so they know how to communicate with those who suffer from dementia. They started with just one car and now they have three WAVs and a saloon car. Gary, 55, from Eston, said: “It’s hard work but it’s rewarding because it’s
getting people out who don’t normally come out. When you pick nice genuine people up who appreciate the job you’re doing it makes you go home happy. You go to work happy. “I was a taxi driver for 30 years. I’ve always done school runs for Redcar. There’s a lot of people who can’t get out and there’s a lot of lonely people.” Gary is “going back to the old days of taxi-ing” as he picks customers up right from their door, rather than sending a text to
the customer to let them know he is
outside, because he wants to make sure that elderly people have locked their doors and got everything they need “to give them a bit of peace of mind”. Ring A Ride has taken customers in wheelchairs to airports in Newcastle and Manchester and drivers make sure to take them into the airports, pushing them in their wheelchairs. Gary added: “We go that little bit extra really.” This is the first business Gary has owned and before launching the taxi service, Jill, 53, worked in nurseries but she loves her new job as Gary’s partner in Ring A Ride. Business has been “steady” for the couple and the former taxi driver believes their regular customers have increased by 15 per cent since
December.However, Gary hopes to expand to five cars and be able to serve more areas in the region, such as Stockton and Hartlepool.
CLACKMANNANSHIRE HACKNEY CARRIAGE QUOTA NOW FULL AFTER WAV POLICY U-TURN
Clackmannanshire Council has filled its active hackney carriage quota, after it made a U-turn on its wheelchair accessibility policy. During a meeting of the Regul- atory Committee, it was agreed to temporarily suspend the policy to only accept WAVs to attract more taxis to the fleet which has significantly decreased recently. A council spokesperson for said: “The temporary suspension of the policy to only accept taxi operator applications for WAVs was planned to be for a minimum of six months,
PHTM MARCH 2024
or until a quota of 52 active taxis was achieved. “Since this decision, there has been an influx of applications for new taxi operator licences and all available licences have now been allocated. The council has reserved three licences that will only be granted to WAVs.” The council is now actively searching for WAVs to give out licences to. They have put out a call for anyone with a suitable vehicle to get in touch to begin the hiring process.
The spokesperson added: “The council is committed to main- taining a fleet of taxis that includes a sufficient number of WAVs, and a reasonable level of availability of standard saloons, as well as 6/7 seat vehicles. The policy was successful and has already more than doubled the number of WAV taxis in Clackmannanshire. “The Regulatory Committee has also waived the requirements for such vehicles to be less than five years of age, and applications will be considered for WAVs over that age.”
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