A NEW purpose built minibus has been a great addition to the Wye Valley Volunteers who help transport people in the district, according to the minibus supervisor, John Kelly.

What is the model of your new vehicle?

A “Pacific blue” Citroen Relay L4 H2 Supplied by Slip End Garage and converted to a minibus, fully adapted for the carriage of disabled passengers by Stanford Coachworks.

What is your role within the volunteer group?

I’m the “Minibus Supervisor”, so I’m responsible for ensuring that all the drivers are correctly registered, licensed, trained, and familiar with the vehicle. I organise the maintenance and safety checks and make sure that the operation complies with all legal requirements. I’m backed up by a sub-committee and we have a very capable lady who takes on all the administration and invoicing.

What is it used for?

Shopping trips, coffee mornings, lunch club, and ad-hoc trips to local towns and markets. Other groups use it for outings and their own purposes.

How much did it cost?

About £36,000. We’re extremely grateful to all those companies, organisations and individuals who responded so magnificently to our fund raising appeal last year.

What is special about the vehicle?

It has been purpose built to our requirements. It’s front wheel drive which means that the floor is lower making the entry steps lower for easier access.

The down side is that the wheelchair lift has to be internal and takes up extra space but being internal means that it is protected from the elements and remains much cleaner when in use.

We chose bright colours for the interior and the seat backs have grab rails to facilitate getting in and out of the seats.

How does it compare to the last one?

For a start it’s brand new! The old bus was very heavy to drive, the gearbox was tricky and it was a bit of a bone shaker. Latterly, despite limited mileage it was becoming very unreliable and expensive to repair.

The new bus is a delight to drive, it’s light, bright and airy, gives a very comfortable ride and all the gadgets make the whole experience a pleasure. It’s a modern diesel so fuel economy is much better.

Has it done many journeys yet?

Quite a lot for the first month and we’re hoping to expand the operation considerably in the coming months. We’ve had a lot of enquiries from other groups.

Who does the driving?

The Wye Valley Volunteers have a pool of 14 registered drivers who between them cover all our activities but as we’re hoping to expand on what we do we still need more drivers. Other organisations who use the vehicle have their own dedicated drivers.

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