Welcoming First and Last Mile, our 47th community group,
We are delighted to welcome ‘First and Last Mile’ to Low Carbon Hub’s network of community groups, bringing the total number of our community groups to 47.
First and Last Mile, based in Eynsham, West Oxfordshire, is a group of highly motivated individuals from a variety of backgrounds, united by a passion for improving public transport in rural communities. Community transport plays a key role in providing rural bus services where public transport is not available. It provides safe, accessible, cost-effective, flexible transport run by the community for the community.
First and Last Mile formed in 2020 to reconnect communities which had been left isolated and without public transport, following the loss of nearly half of Oxfordshire’s subsidised bus routes, when bus subsidies were withdrawn in 2016. The service is proving incredibly popular and helps people in communities that were cut off, to get out and about again. One grateful user had this to say:
It’s my lifeline. without the service I would be completely isolated, unless I pay for expensive taxis. An absolute godsend!
They are also aiming to reduce reliance on car use, thereby helping to lower carbon emissions and leading to more equitable commuting opportunities. The service will contribute to the zero-carbon transport aims of the Community Action Plan for Zero Carbon Energy (CAPZero), which operates within the Cuckoo Lane Primary Substation Area and is the first action plan of its kind in the UK.
On 4 January 2022, First and Last Mile started up their first community bus service in West Oxfordshire, joining together the villages between Long Hanborough, Standlake, and Eynsham, where it links with the regular S1 and S2 buses into Witney, Oxford and beyond. The organisation has three minibuses and currently carries around 80 passengers a day, including schoolchildren to and from Bartholomew school in Eynsham, who otherwise would have to travel by car each day.
The group operates two routes: the 411, which runs from Long Hanborough station, through Freeland to Eynsham, and the 418 which runs from Standlake, via Stanton Harcourt and Sutton to Eynsham. The service operates with seven paid drivers, who mainly start as volunteers and move to being paid employees with regular shifts, once training is completed.
It is a wonderful community service run by wonderful volunteers. Thank you to them all.
First and Last Mile were recent recipients of a Community Transport Grant from Oxfordshire County Council, to expand its services and provide administrative support to cope with their additional workload. The funding will enable the group to launch a new shopper service, the 471, which will run from Bablock Hythe each Wednesday, connecting South Leigh to Witney.