2008 AGM

Members and supporters of Wokingham-based community transport organisation Keep Mobile met on Saturday 26^th April to celebrate 15 years of the charity.  

The charity, which operates from Evendons Lane in Wokingham, is available to anyone over 70 in the Bracknell Forest and Wokingham Borough council areas as well as anyone with physical or mental disabilities of any age.  

Fred Rule, who has been chairman of Keep Mobile since it started, outlined some of the achievements of the last year but also warned that the charity needs volunteers and more fund-raising if it is to continue to flourish in the future.  The organisation, which operates 11 specially adapted minibuses has been particularly hard hit by the soaring fuel increases of recent months.   Despite the rises the charity has not had to cut back on the journeys it makes but Mr Rule warned the situation could not continue without more funding and assistance from volunteers.  Currently around 500 people are transported each week to local day centres, health centres, shopping venues and on day trips to attractions across Southern England .  

Together with two other community transport operators, Keep Mobile, has pioneered the development of specially written software to improve the efficiency of taking passengers’ bookings and then drawing up the most effective route for each bus to take each day.  This has now been made available to other organisations and has been installed in various locations in England and Scotland and will shortly be used by an operator in Northern Ireland .  

The charity, which has a mixture of paid staff and volunteers, is always looking for new people to help the organisation be it drivers, admin staff or to join the management committee.  Details can be obtained by calling Keep Mobile’s offices on 0845 3456 696.

Members attending the 2008 AGM