A COMMUNITY transport charity is to start an electric car share for people living in a rural dale.

Weardale Community Transport was set up in 2005 by Weardale Community Partnership Ltd in response to a locally identified need for accessible, flexible transport.

They operate a “not for profit” service for residents of Weardale, to bridge gaps in services which may not be provided by public transport services and commercial operators in the area.

However, WCT is not just about running the community buses; they are involved in the development and delivery of several other projects.

One of the new projects is the electric car share scheme which will be run from The Hub in Stanhope.

The Hub, which has been closed during the pandemic due to Government guidelines, has continued to offer support by phone.

They continued to run schemes including Wheels2Meals clients, Jigsaw Club deliveries, lifts to GP appointments and vaccinations, all provided by WCT.

On top of this, continuing to work for North East Ambulance Service Patient Transport Service (NEAS) to alleviate the strain on the NHS and regular ambulance service.

Now, they have decided to offer an electric car share club to people in Weardale.

The club is to benefit people who cannot access public transport due to mobility or other health issues like anxiety.

Another reason for the club is that in rural areas there is no bus service or very infrequent service, and people who cannot afford the cost of car ownership.

The club will start with one electric car based in Stanhope and this will hopefully develop over time with additional cars being based in other parts of Weardale.

The club should allow local communities to have flexible access to an environmentally friendly mode of transport, that is available locally and a viable alternative to renting a car.

The electric car club will be launched on May 24, 2021.

This comes after it was announced in February of the expansion of the electric vehicle charging points across County Durham.

This is to help the reach the Government's 2030 deadline of banning petrol and diesel cars.

Following a competitive tender by Durham County Council, the contract for the works has been awarded to Gronn Kontakt (UK) Ltd who are working with their trusted delivery partner Elmtronics Ltd, based in Consett.

The project will see 20 chargepoints at eight sites across Stanhope, which means that all residents will have a charge point within a five-minute drive from their home.

The project is coming with the help of Weardale Area Action Partnership.

Both The Durham Dales Centre and The Weardale Railway are on board with the scheme.

As a charity WCT have lost all of their income from the community side, which normally involves transport for schools, local groups such as the WI, and Wheels to Meals project which targets people who are lonely or have mobility issues. As a charity WCT have lost all of their income from the community side, which normally involves transport for schools, local groups such as the WI, and Wheels to Meals project which targets people who are lonely or have mobility issues.

As a charity WCT have lost all of their income from the community side, which normally involves transport for schools, local groups such as the WI, and Wheels to Meals project which targets people who are lonely or have mobility issues.

However, the income from NEAS helps the charity to continue to offer support to the local communities in such challenging times.