WANTED - Disabled supporters in the New Forest area

[hamster]

Hi,

 

If anyone knows of any Saints supporters in The New Forest area who have problems with travel to Saints home matches could you please ask them to contact me at s.l.s.g@hotmail.co.uk

 

We (Sport & Leisure Support Group) are planning to run accesible coaches to home games initially, with a long term view of attending some of the more local away games.

 

This is a door-to-door service.

 

Costs will be 'not for profit' and carers/enablers will of course travel free of charge.

 

More details of our aims, rules of membership and our constitution are available on request.

 

We are also very keen to hear from anyone who may be interested in becoming a volunteer driver. We can offer free MIDAS (Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme) training and the possibilty of a gratis match ticket, subject to availibilty.

 

I should add that this scheme is not limited to the New Forest area, it is just that we have one member in Tiptoe and at the moment it is not financially viable to run a coach for him alone.

 

Other areas that the Group currently run services from are Eastleigh/Bishopstoke and Hedge End/Botley areas. Currently these routes are run on a first come/geographical basis but again they will in time hopefully become more frequent/reliable if and when we recruit more volunteers.

 

Southampton (East and West) is currently catered for by the local Dial-A-Ride scheme so please contact them direct for details of their transport schemes.

 

In the current climate it is quite challenging to secure income streams and for that reason I would like to take this opportunity to thank Hants County Council Adult Services department for their wholehearted backing in setting up and running the scheme. Also I must recognise the small but dedicated team of commitee members who have been invaluable in getting the Group up and running. Mention also to 1-Community in Eastleigh for their ongoing help and guidance.

 

Any enquiries concerning supporting the Group with donations or offers of funding should in the first instance be made to the e-mail address above please.

 

Sincerely

hamster

[eesti matty]

Good luck with this. It sounds like a fantastic project.

[hamster]

Cheers Matty, I can't take too much credit as it was spawned by an idea that was put in my head by a colleague who I really had tons of respect for, he died in very sad circumstances last year and I thought it would have been such a shame for it to be shelved. I thought it would be handy for Saints fans initially; I would go to work after a game and be inundated with clients asking me about the match, it was a natural progression and as I said Adult Services gave the green light so how could I refuse, my line-manager (Rob, a Spurs fan) has been more supportive than I could have ever have imagined.

 

It's actually grown, even at this early stage, into something potentially quite large. We have interest from all sorts of other local disabled people's groups. If anyone knows of any other groups or individuals that would like to join, please give them that e-mail address. We renamed the group to represent our aims of supporting all adults with disabilities to take part in and attend sport AND leisure activities, there's not many activities that I can't see us including to be honest; from watching football and cricket to a group of mates who want to go to watch some live music down The Brook. Venue accesibility and facilities is probably going to be the second biggest hurdle, after finding volunteer drivers of course.

 

I should also mention that The Club have been fantastic too, nothing has been too much trouble.

[BadgerBadger]

This sounds excellent, well done to all involved,

 

a good news/feel good thread to boot

[trousers]

I should also mention that The Club have been fantastic too, nothing has been too much trouble.

 

Which is why (one assumes) that this thread hasn't reached 67 pages yet.....too much of a good news story....

 

Great stuff Hamster - good luck with this venture.

[Sour Mash]

Cheers Matty, I can't take too much credit as it was spawned by an idea that was put in my head by a colleague who I really had tons of respect for, he died in very sad circumstances last year and I thought it would have been such a shame for it to be shelved. I thought it would be handy for Saints fans initially; I would go to work after a game and be inundated with clients asking me about the match, it was a natural progression and as I said Adult Services gave the green light so how could I refuse, my line-manager (Rob, a Spurs fan) has been more supportive than I could have ever have imagined.

 

It's actually grown, even at this early stage, into something potentially quite large. We have interest from all sorts of other local disabled people's groups. If anyone knows of any other groups or individuals that would like to join, please give them that e-mail address. We renamed the group to represent our aims of supporting all adults with disabilities to take part in and attend sport AND leisure activities, there's not many activities that I can't see us including to be honest; from watching football and cricket to a group of mates who want to go to watch some live music down The Brook. Venue accesibility and facilities is probably going to be the second biggest hurdle, after finding volunteer drivers of course.

 

I should also mention that The Club have been fantastic too, nothing has been too much trouble.

 

Fair play for doing this and best of luck, great to hear that the club are helping as much as possible.

[corsacar saint]

I am disabled and live in Hedge End. I am fortunate enough to be able to get to home games of my own accord.

However,this is a really worthwhile initiative, and I sincerely hope that you get enough takers to get the scheme up and running.It is a very commendable idea.

[RedWillie]

see pm

 

rw

[hamster]

Cheers for all the good wishes and cheers Ponty for sticky'ing it.

 

You'd be surpised just how awkward and more so expensive it can be to get to events like football when someone has mobility issues.

 

Actually, some of you may have seen us towards the end of last season parking up in Granville Street, as part of the pilot scheme. Last few games we were running two buses and for the JPT we took three, again thanks to HCC and John our volunteer. On that note thanks also to the chap (on here) who swapped his two seats so that John could sit with his wife. Unfortunately due to budget constraints we can only be afforded one driver on a Saturday for the time being but the more popular it becomes the more leverage we will have when requesting more paid drivers on a regular basis.

 

I obviously do it through work so it's a real labour of love to be honest and the first game we attended brought a lump to my throat, hearing the buzz on the way home and the excitement was palpable.

 

Any other suggestions for events that people might want to attend please feel free to let me know. A few weeks ago I took a photography group on a narrowboat trip in Hungerford, and I'm sure it hasn't escaped people's attention how much I love narrowboats.

[benjii]

Nice stuff! Well done.

[alehouseboys]

Admirable.

 

Good luck with the venture.

[Norm]

Well done and sincere best wishes for this new 'venture'!

[CitySaint]

Good Work !!

[Marino]

This is excellent, and should make those of us who are able-bodied think just for a moment how lucky

we are.

Well done and the best of luck.

[hamster]

Tahnks all for letting me stick this up. Mods, couls you move it over to the 'Clubs' page for me.

 

Got some good feedback, one in particular may lead to us having a new partner based in New Milton. Fingers crossed and thanks for all the nice words above.

 

Sincerely

[crashhot]

a nice idea and it might be useful if you contacted this nascent organisation, Saints Disabled Supporters Association (SDSA), we're trying to get this off the ground and there could be some excellent synergies I think ;-)

 

http://www.saintsdsa.org.uk/

 

if anyone else want any information on this please contact the e-mail address on the website.

 

Cheers

[hamster]

Cheers Crashlot.

 

Although it was called off I discovered today that the club had sold only 1 place on the accesible MK Dons bus!

 

An inherent problem with the current scheme is that one needs to get to the stadium first which is obviously quite a challenge for some.

 

I'm hoping to do our first away game soon (swindon) and, although it will be a bit dearer than the travel club I will be picking people up and dropping them off at their home address. Cartainly not in competition with the Club but (and certainly not critisising their efforts).

 

As long as we get four passengers the cost will be £30 per person within a 10 mile radius of Southampton. 'Enablers' (professional, friend or family member) travels free of charge.

 

I have an offer of a 'steward' on board but cannot promise bingo nor any other form of entertainment except me singing along to the radio.

 

Passengers MUST obtain their own match tickets and bring their own refreshments although I am looking into selling bottles of pop and crisps, bars of choccie subject to petty cash.

 

NB

Travel is subject to membership of the S&LSG at a cost of a £10 anuual fee.

 

Within the 10 mile radius limit this will match will be on a first come first served basis. Please put the word out.