Travel scheme gets cash boost

Help for people with dementia or autism

People with dementia and autism are to benefit from more accessible transport thanks to £36,000 of funding.

Clackmannanshire and Stirling Health and Social Care Partnership has received the money towards an Independent Travel Training (ITT) programme for younger people and local dementia and autism groups.

The partnership was one of five organisations which has received support from the Scottish Government’s new Accessible Travel Fund. It provides support to projects which aim to help disabled people travel with the same freedom, choice, dignity and opportunity as other citizens.

There is a focus in the scheme on encouraging more sustainable active travel options.

Eileen Seath, the Partnership’s day services officer, said: “Having developed our project for adults with learning disabilities this funding will now allow us to increase the number of people it can benefit.

“We will be able to begin working with younger people as well as those with dementia or autism. This has been our vision since the project started and this funding takes us another step closer to achieving it.”

Cabinet Secretary for Transport Michael Matheson added: “Accessible travel is critical to ensuring people enjoy equal access to opportunities and can participate fully in society.

“This fund also supports active travel solutions and provides greater access to sustainable travel options as part of overall journeys.

“This fund will help remove disabling barriers which prevent people from travelling and improve the overall experience of those door to door journeys. It’s especially encouraging these projects respond to the needs and wishes of people with a wide range of disabilities and that they have been co-produced and implemented with the support of disabled people.

“Our Accessible Travel Framework for Scotland is both an ambition and a commitment on our part to go above and beyond to help ensure we make travel more accessible for disabled people.

“This fund has furthered our ambitions and I look forward to seeing the results of these innovative projects.”