Tower and Town, August 2015 (view the full edition)Out And About With Kennet Community TransportAugust 3rd will be the Silver Jubilee - the 25th birthday - of Kennet Community Transport's incorporation. KCT runs the white minibus you see around the town and the surrounding villages and on the front cover of this issue of Tower and Town. So there will be tea and cake for anyone passing the Jubilee Centre around 5pm on that day. It all started before then with the setting up of the New Road Centre for local people with a wide range of disabilities. As it was clear that attendees would need transport to bring them to the centre, John Spanton chaired a steering group which led to the setting up of East Kennet District Community Transport, with much support from both District and County. The 'East' and the 'District' have since been deleted for simplicity. Sue Findlay was (I think) the first Chair, and other early Chairs were Joyce White (the source of much of this information), David Watson and Stewart Dobson. A highlight of those early years was when the ship's company of HMS Marlborough pulled the then red bus up and down the High Street. Tower and Town has been generous over the years, and in 2013 donated £500 towards the cost of the white bus you see today. Up till then the bus had been supplied by East Kennet District Council, and later by Wiltshire Council, but in that year we were on our own and had to raise the money to buy our own vehicle. Although we have a full time driver, as we work five days a week starting quite early to bring people in to the New Road Centre and the Jubilee Centre, we are always in need of relief drivers for when he is on leave or sick. And relief drivers get paid, although not much. Obviously it is only occasional work, and often unpredictable, so it would not suit someone with a family to feed, but for a recently retired woman or man, it gets him/her out of the house and gives his/her spouse a bit of peace! If you would like to have a go, call either Roger Hagerty on 01672 5406 98 Alexander Kirk Wilson |