Thank you Mollie

We recently celebrated the 25^th birthday of our charity.  Mollie Whitworth, who was a founder member of the organisation, has just stepped down as a trustee.  We want to thank Mollie for her tenacity in starting the charity and for her steadfast support and loyalty over the past 25 years.  An account of the history of the charity follows, which draws from Mollie's recollections.

North Walsham Area Community Transport Association (NWACTA) as it originally was, carries far more meaning in its name than the purely geographical.  It described a situation; a need.  In this very rural place, there were communities with unmade roads, people who hadn't left their homes for years and older women, who, now widowed, had lost the household driver.  Public transport provision was poor.  In the late 1990s, Mollie Whitworth, member of North Walsham Town Council saw this - as did the council and others.  Their united goal became to assist those at risk of loneliness and isolation, by providing access to an affordable means of transport.

The first beginnings of a scheme began in 1997 with a meeting and you might say a meeting of minds, organised by Norfolk County Council, the Rural Development Commission and the local branch of Age Concern, to which representatives of Town and Parish Councils and the East Norfolk were invited.  Numerous household questionnaires were sent out and confirmed the scale gaps in the service people desperately needed, resulting in the establishment of a 25-parish project.

The wheels were set in motion to create an independent organisation registered as a Limited Company and Charity, which happened in 2000.  The first Trustees were soon joined by a driver and service user representative.  A feasibility study had established the shape of a workable scheme, so the search for funding, accommodation, office equipment and vehicles began.  North Norfolk District Council owned a building which could be rented and vehicles were provided by the Red Cross, Antingham Church and NCC Social Services.  The long tradition of loyal volunteer drivers began.

The new 'Dial-a-Ride' service should really have been called 'life saver!' After initial low journeys, word spread and by the 1st March 2000, NNCT had a passenger membership of 87, over half of whom were living in the parish of Eccles/Lessingham which had no transport services at all and was even short of proper roads.  By August 2001, their membership stood at 134 and in order to coordinate journeys to events such as older people's lunch clubs, regular group transport journeys were provided, together with a small-scale hospital transport service supplied by volunteers using their own vehicles.

Alarmingly, the financial future of the charity became uncertain in 2002.  The East Norfolk Rural Transport Partnership had contributed core costs, but this came to an end, so, in 2003, NWACTA submitted a successful bid to the Big Lottery Fund for £96,343 to cover the purchase of a minibus of their own and provide funds.  North Norfolk Community Transport Partnership, based in Holt and covering the Northern area, had their bid declined.  Therefore, when the future looked so uncertain, The fledgling charity was suddenly growing by some 21 parishes.  The bright yellow 15- seater minibus arrived in 2005 like a talisman of changing fortunes!

With finances shored up by a loan, the fees paid for by ENRTP and the Big Lottery funding in place by 2007, people could start to relax.  However, the West Area, with its scattered population, was a particular drain on resources and the share of NNCTP's funds was soon exhausted.  In a bold financial move, in 2007/8, it was decided by the Trustees to go for growth and steadily expanding services; by October 2009, they had 350 members. 

Then things got serious.  The Lottery funding had come to an end in 2007.  Already NWACTA was running an annual deficit of £9,000 to £10,000.  On top of this, with the aid of some funds, Age U.K. North Norfolk East, proposed that NWACTA should take over their transport service, including a bus, 157 service users and its volunteers.  At a difficult time, the charity saw themselves expanding again.

Support for local authorities had fallen massively and Community Transport services were expected to fill the gap.  Challenges mounted.  As NWACTA expanded its services they were eventually able to move to the Industrial Estate to accommodate their ever-growing vehicle fleet.  In 2012 they submitted a Big Lottery bid to develop a Sheringham to Cromer coastal service, 'Coastal Connections' and in 2013 learnt, to great relief, that they had been awarded £168,000, which included a vehicle, part-time organiser and a part-time paid driver.  an important partnership was formed with the Victory Housing Trust many of whose tenants needed a transport service.  NWCTA'S name was changed to North Norfolk Community Transport and VHT generously awarded £30,000 towards a new bus. 

The Trustee's strategic decision to go for growth had resulted in them now owning ever more vehicles and more paid drivers.  Hospital transport had kept on expanding to satisfy demand.  By mid-2015 they owned eight minibuses and three wheelchair accessible cars while using and maintaining two NCC buses.  More buses were on order and expansion of activity meant that the scale of income and expenditure also increased.

In time, NNCT had 11 school contracts in place and 19 vehicles.  However, they felt in danger of loosing sight of their original purpose and the school contracts were not delivering the expected additional income.

Subsequently, renewed effort went into obtaining grant funding including a bid to the National Lottery Community Fund, which enabled many more excursions and a passenger subsidy, so that those members who had limited means were able to participate too.  Innovative ways to keep in contact and provide support for members and staff through COVID were initiated, including phone chats between drivers and passengers, the production of a newsletter and the offer to deliver shopping. 

Today, you see them everywhere - those buses, including electric vehicles as the fleet modernises.  Modest in white, pale blue and green livery; an understatement of an amazing achievement and an amazing service.  People can access shopping, medical appointments, clubs and a range of excursions; serving one of the most important purposes of NNCT'S existence, which was to reduce isolation of those who could not leave their homes without support.  The spirit of that original concept remains, carried forward with strenuous determination; NNCT grew in order to thrive . . . . . along with its happy passengers.