About Us
We are a thriving community transport scheme, operating within the borough of Bexley. Founded in July 2004, our core purpose is to provide affordable, accessible and safe transport for individuals, community and voluntary groups within the London Borough of Bexley.
Core Objectives
BATS aims to achieve its core purpose by:
- Providing transport for groups and individuals at affordable rates.
- Recruiting volunteer drivers and training them to Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme (MiDAS) standard and accessible training.
- Providing information and advice and MiDAS training to voluntary groups operating their own minibuses and offering brokerage opportunities.
- Encouraging the best use of existing community vehicles.
- Marketing the scheme to groups with transport needs within the borough and in particular targeting disadvantaged and socially-excluded groups.
- Ensuring the Management Committee reflects users views as widely as possible.
- Developing new community transport services to meet identifiable needs.
- Meeting legal and statutory obligations.
Values
- BATS strive to provide transport services that meet everyone's needs regardless of the traditional barriers relating to access and use.
- BATS strive to provide a range of innovative and high quality services for all of our service users.
- BATS strive to provide local opportunities in employment and training.
- BATS strive to involve our service users in all aspects of our organisation's activities.
Our scheme operates on a membership only basis.
Membership is open to not-for-profit, voluntary and community groups, social enterprises and charities which serve the residents of Bexley. Groups that qualify for membership include those involved with older people, people with disabilities, children and young people, recreational activities, social welfare or other activities benefiting the community.
You can find out more about our membership fees by looking at the service pages.
Income and Services
We receive financial assistance from the Social Enterprise Investment Fund(SEIF) and Futurebuilders
In addition to the memberships and hire fees from our individual and group memberships, our income is earned through contract services, working with partners such as The London Borough of Bexley to provide management services and vehicle maintenance for their minibuses.
On behalf of Bexley Care Trust, we run a mobile health clinic, Health on Wheels, which can be hired by small groups for Health awareness, community outreach and social inclusion programmes.
We also provide Home-To-School transport for SEN (Special Educational Needs) pupils of schools and colleges who would otherwise find journeys difficult.
With support from the London Borough of Bexley we established a food accessibility scheme, providing a Hop 'n' Shop bus to help the elderly, disabled and parents with small children to access shops and markets.
Transport for London also supported us in the establishment of a small community bus route, the 938, which runs between Erith and Bexleyheath via Crayford and Hall Place two days a week.
Our other services include school meal deliveries and patient transport for local hospitals, clinics and surgeries.
This work is undertaken to ensure our long-term financial sustainability
Growth
| Year | Group Members | Individual Members | Hop 'n' Shop | Journeys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-2005 | 58 | - | - | 231 |
| 2005-2006 | 111 | - | - | 2160 |
| 2006-2007 | 130 | - | - | 4502 |
| 2007-2008 | 140 | 37 | 150 | 3953 |
| 2008-2009 | 150 | 47 | 150 | 4737 |
Total: 15,583 journeys!
Management
The scheme is controlled by an annually-elected Trustee Board made up of representatives of community groups in Bexley, along with additional Trustees having key skills in finance, business and legal matters. Strategic and day-to-day management is the responsibility of the CEO, supported by an office staff team of 6 people. Trustee board meetings are held bi-monthly. A Finance sub-committee is established to provide more effective support to the Chief Executive in developing the sustainability of the scheme, the Trustee board is elected each year at the AGM.
Enquiry
For initial information about the services we provide, please browse our service pages.
For specific information about how we operate, please e-mail: enquiries@bexleyct.co.uk or give us a call on (01322) 311333.
You are also welcome to make a direct enquiry, or provide feedback, using our contact page.