Mobility service ‘confident for future’ after turbulent times in Maidenhead

The chief executive of a charity offering transport for thousands of vulnerable people in Maidenhead and Windsor has said he is ‘confident’ about the service’s future.

People to Places was thrust into uncertainty when it was given six months to leave its base of 17 years in Vanwall Office Park in late 2023.

But, one year on from relocating to a new home at St Mark’s Hospital, the charity has unveiled a new hospital transfer service and has put the wheels in motion for a private hire vehicle licence.

“There’s a lot of good news for People to Places,” its CEO Peter Haley told the Advertiser.

He said: “There’s always funding cutbacks, and we’ve had that just like anyone else, but we are pretty confident for the future.”

Around 2,500 people have sought the services of People to Places over the last year, with its fleet of minibuses making more than 20,000 trips in the process.

That fleet, operated out of a base in Holyport, is soon set for a new addition when a new electric minibus joins the ranks.

A £500,000 Motorbility Trust grant, spread over three years, also provides some much-needed financial security.

Both of these will support the People to Place’s new hospital transfer service which offers users tailored transport to hospitals including the Royal Berkshire in Reading and Wexham Park in Slough.

People to Places is looking to grow its services further, but Mr Haley said its transport permit was a constraint.

The Section 19 permit that the charity operates means it can transport individuals or registered community groups, but can only offer help to individual residents in care homes.

The charity wants to offer journeys that can be organised by care homes themselves.

Mr Haley said: “We’re well aware that mobility issues cross great swathes of the community.

“We were thinking that this could be a way that we could open up other areas for us to help people get out and enjoy life a little bit rather than being stuck in a care home all the time.”

Its ambitions suffered a blow when RBWM, and later an appeal to the Government Planning Inspectorate, knocked back its bid for a change of use for its St Mark’s Hospital office.

Paul Freer, the inspector appointed to the appeal, cited a lack of evidence over whether a change for private hire use would cause more traffic at St Mark’s.

But he added, ‘this does not necessarily mean that the use proposed could not be shown to be lawful if further information/evidence became available’.

Mr Haley told the Advertiser the appeal result had been ‘disappointing’ as there would be no increase in traffic, with the charity’s vehicles based elsewhere.

He confirmed People to Places was likely to apply again for the change of use, with a view to obtaining a private hire licence.

More information about People to Places is available on its website.

The new hospital transfer service can be reached on 07845 085442.