Last week, two Liberal Democrat MPs visited Wiveliscombe Area Partnership, a charity serving the people of the 10 Parishes, including residents of both MPs’ constituencies.

Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, and Gideon Amos, MP for Taunton and Wellington, both newly elected Liberal Democrats, joined the West Somerset charity to discover more about its work, and to see its iconic community transport vehicles.

The charity runs an essential community transport service door to door, connecting rurally isolated residents from across the area, for example taking them to important medical appointments in Taunton and Wellington. Founded in 2002, the charity started the Wivey Link service with just one vehicle but now has five vehicles, including 4 with wheelchair access. They are operated entirely by volunteers.

Over 600 residents are registered to use the transport service, and many of them have no access to public transport; the service delivered over 12,000 journeys in the last 12 months. Volunteer Driver, Phil Gadd, spoke to the MPs passionately about the impact his volunteering has on the passengers he has got to know over the years, calling it a lifeline for many. “I have been volunteering since 2010, and I do it because I know I can be a real help for people who don’t get out the house from week to week”.

Pauline Homeshaw, Chairman of the charity, said, “We are thrilled to meet with our new representatives, not only to show them the important work that we do in their constituencies but to hear about their interests and plans. Charities like ours have been hit hard in recent times and it is heartening to hear that Rachel and Gideon are as passionate as we are about the issues that impact our rural community.”

Gideon said, “Taunton and Wellington really benefit from the Wivey Link community transport as it plies its way bringing people in and out of town for shopping, medical appointments and for other reasons. “The fact that the charity provides this at reasonable cost is vital to many local people who wouldn’t be able to afford to get here otherwise. “The Partnership is also saving the health authorities huge amounts of money as they would otherwise have to provide transport”.