Community Transport Waltham Forest

Social Impact Statements

The Social Enterprise Mark criteria includes a requirement that the applicant can demonstrate that social and/or environmental objectives are being achieved.

In support of this, new applicants and renewing Mark holders are asked to respond to a set of social impact questions, which are designed to help them think about the social impact they create, and to articulate this clearly and succinctly.

 

Updated October 2019

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1) What social differences and changes have you aimed to create (or supported)?

We strive to have a positive impact on the communities in which we operate. We provide infrastructure and support through specialised transport services so individuals can participate as active citizens regardless of their disability or support need.

We support community services and initiatives through partnership workings. We encourage cooperation. We work with our members, with other voluntary groups (large and small), and with statutory and private organisations to improve accessibility and opportunity for everyone.

At Community Transport Waltham Forest we aim to support the following Social Improvements:

• Supporting independent living
• Tackling loneliness and isolation
• Improving health and wellbeing
• Providing employment opportunities for long term unemployed
• Social benefits
• More engaged and active communities’ regardless of mobility issues
• Increased choice of activities to participate in and befriending opportunities
• Increase health and mental well being
• Increase economic contribution through accessing employment opportunities
• Lasting differences/changes
• More connected communities
• Improved quality of life
• Reduced need for single car journeys
• Improved partnership working
• Increased geographic spread of services

 

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2) What actions have you taken to address the above social aims?

Individual Clients:

• Door to Store Shopping Service for elderly and disabled
• Excursions Club for elderly and disabled to places of interest planned by members

Group transport:

• Provision of minibus on a self-drive or driver provided basis colleges, schools, sports foundations.
• Transport Services for Care Homes
• Transport services for Dementia Support
• Special services to Day centre
• New daily service for young adults with assisted needs to day centre
• Transport for Low Vison clients in Enfield – 7 clubs per week
• Projects implemented or supported
• Loneliness Club –Canning Town in partnership with local organisation Ambition Aspire Achieve
• Transport for Magic Me intergenerational arts project elderly and school
• Accessible Shuttle Services London Stadium - various

Specific Actions taken:

• Secured Power to Change funding to support community business model in Newham including purchase of new vehicle and employment of outreach worker
• Start-up of Door to Store in Newham in November, trips out and loneliness club part of Newham business offer this year
• Due to ULEZ in London we have started fleet replacement to ensure we are running a cleaner greener fleet.

 

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3) What has changed and what benefits have been realised as a result of your actions?

How/in what ways have individuals benefitted?

By providing low cost accessible transport services individuals are able to live independently for longer
Undertaking their everyday essentials via services such as our door to store.

Reduced loneliness and isolation by participating in services such as the excursions club and Sunday Lunch Club.

How/in what ways has the community you work in benefitted

We are the only Community Transport Service based in Waltham Forest we have increased our service to neighbouring boroughs that have no CT services enabling communities to access transport provision when required. We add capacity to infrastructure within communities enabling better community cohesion and engagement in community life. Increase choice of service and activity to engage with. Enfield clubs able to continue with provision of our transport services.

How/in what ways have other stakeholders you work with benefitted i.e. people you affect, partners, funders or others that may influence your activities (e.g. other organisations, the public sector)?

Our Dial A Ride contract assists TFL with meeting demand of accessible transport services to enable their members to undertake everyday essentials. We are providing daily transport services to support LBWF Adult and Social Care services by transporting service users to their services including Young Adults, Dementia sufferers, young carer transport services as well as supporting the youth Offending team with transport to work with young people at risk .

We are continuously reviewing our services to ensure that we can respond to national agendas such as Reducing Loneliness and Isolation through interventions such as the Sunday Lunch Club. We participate and engage with briefings such as Westminster Briefings on Older Peoples Services. We are currently in the Framework for LBWF Connecting Communities Strategy.

 

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4) How do you and other people know your aims are being achieved? Or how will you know?

CTWF have a programme of continuous review of our activities and services, we use annual user feedback surveys, excursion evaluations, monitoring and stakeholder feedback to review our success or when necessary identifying shortcomings and addressing these.

We have a fully developed business plan reviewed every three years within which guides our service development and delivery. Our management committee meetings main role is to ensure that our delivery meets our aims, a traffic light report is produced for every meeting providing a service overview, and management accounts are presented to every meeting.

We also produce an annual report which is published on our website and sent to member organisations, funders and interested parties. We use a Facebook page and post updates, feedback on services to wider community.

 

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Supplementary details

The below questions are not mandatory, but Mark holders are encouraged to answer them where possible, to provide a fuller account of their social outcomes and the social value they create.

5) How many people have benefitted from your actions?

The number of people who have directly accessed a service or activity:

Our stats are based on Transport Usage i.e passenger journeys:

• 2097 pax journeys Door to Store
• 482 pax journeys Excursions Club
• 94,800 pax journeys group transport services

The number of people that have experienced specific benefits you have measured as a result of your interventions/support:

84 individual responses to Excursions Club survey.

 

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6) What examples can you provide of a typical service user experience, that helps illustrate the benefits they have experienced as a result of your actions?

Sunday Club: Joe

We had a call from Joe’s neighbour saying that she was concerned for his welfare as he lived alone and was very isolated.

I spoke to Joe and invited him along to Sunday Lunch Club which he then said “I wont be able to come lovie because I can’t get out I’m in a wheelchair” I told him that was not a problem and we would arrange transport for him.

When Joe’s wife died suddenly he was left to bring up his son of thirteen, at this time he had his own business in Motor Repairs, and although he said “it was a struggle” he managed it. His son left home when he was 19 and over the years he has not had contact with him. It upsets Joe he said “I did all I could for him I was a good dad and this is how he repays me”.

Joe sold his business when he was 65 and 10th months after he had a stroke and then another one which left him having to use a wheelchair and rely on carers twice a day to get him up and back to bed, and neighbours to do his shopping.

“I really look forward to coming to the Sunday Club before this I hadn’t been out for nearly 8 years only going to the hospital, its help with the my mental health as sitting indoors just with the T.V for company can drive you mad, having a chat and a good dinner has given me such a boost and I look forward to going so much”.

Joe spoke a lot about getting a mobility scooter and we encourage him to do so and since having it the difference it has made we now have a man that has been given a new lease of life.

Betty

Betty loved going to her local hub where she lived, she was responsible for the growing of the vegetables and fruit which local residents could buy, she also looked after the 13 Chickens making sure that everyday eggs were collected and she would feed them porridge which she brought from home. Her mobility at that time was quite good.

When the Hub closed Betty was devastated she said “this was my reason to get up in the morning it kept me going” since then her health has suffered and her mobility has worsened.

Since joining the Sunday Club “I can now look forward to the weekends, I’m picked up first and dropped off last and have a good chinwag with the driver. I’ve made new friends and now go to another club with them."

Betty is now looking forward to helping in the greenhouse and doing a bit of planting, she said “I will never get back to how I was but coming to the Sunday Lunch Club has given me a chance to meet other people and get out of the house again and not feel so lonely."

Pathways to Employment

Stefan joined CTWF after not long having left formal education and searching for the right fit to progress his desired career goals. Originally hired to serve as a Passenger Assistant fate worked its charm and after 4 weeks in a PA role the opportunity arose in our organisation to allow him to serve as a driver.

This experience as a driver drove Stefan’s ambition to formally progress his desire to be a professional driver and after 12 months of driving with us he decided to pursue his D1 qualification which would allow him to diversify the class of vehicles he could eligibly drive.

Upon successful completion of his D1 Stefan, based on his previous performance, was immediately upgraded to a higher class vehicle and continues to make a valuable contribution in his role with Community Transport.

What’s next for the ambitious young man? He says, “I have gained so much from being with Community Transport and truly appreciate the opportunities I have accessed; however, my next aim is to be on the red buses. Hopefully with a few more months experience at CTWF I will be ready to begin a new path serving the wider London public.”

Stefan is officially ‘on the red buses’!! This dedicated young man achieved his goal and can be seen driving along the city’s road network serving the general public. During his training period with his current company the trainer commented on his driving skills and said that it was apparent his time with CTWF served him well in prepping for the bigger buses’.

• CTWF Training: MiDAS Certificate (Standard & Accessible), PATS certificate, First Aid Training, Emergency Evacuation, Manual Handling,
• Current Employment Status: Bus Driver with Stagecoach

 

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7) What additional social benefits have you been able to deliver within your core services that distinguish you from other “for shareholder profit” providers?

Volunteer Driver Hours end of life services and excursions Haven House Hospice.

 

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8) What other social benefits have you contributed that go beyond your core delivery activities (ones that are completely unrelated to your main services)?

Director: trustee of Walthamstow and Chingford Almshouses.

 

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9) What social and environmental benefits have you created from internal operational policies and actions?

Employment Practices

Community Transport Waltham Forest aims to create a culture that respects and values each person’s differences and that promotes dignity, equality and diversity. We encourage each person to develop to their full potential. We aim to champion, value and manage diversity and we recognise that talent and potential are distributed across the population.

Community Transport is an accredited London Living Wage employer, committed to ensure our staff receive fair wages in return for their work.