Ryedale | Archive | 2003 | August | 06
From the Gazette & Herald, first published Wednesday 6th Aug 2003.
YOUNG people in rural areas are receiving extra help to get on their bikes and go to work.
The Malton-based Wheels To Work project has expanded by adding five more mopeds to its fleet. The scheme hires mopeds to young people in Ryedale who can prove they need it to travel to and from either work or a training course.
So far the initiative, which started last year with 12 50cc mopeds, has solved the transport problems of 28 people aged between 16 and 25.
Dave Young, the Wheels To Work co-ordinator, said he was delighted with the success of the scheme.
He said: "It's marvellous when I know that the loan of a moped at just £3 a week has meant most of these young people have been able to secure their first full-time job or keep a place on a training course."
Under the scheme each young person can hire a moped for up to six months before returning it to the project for another person to use. Wheels To Work provides them with full safety training and equipment and pay for the cost of the Compulsory Basic Training Certificate, which is needed before they can take to the road.
Among those to benefit from the new mopeds are 16-year-old Vicky Stroughair, from Ampleforth, Carl Chilton, from Newton-on-Rawcliffe and Michael Roe, from Foxholes.
Michael, 19, said: "It's a brilliant scheme. It has definitely helped me to get a job because without my own transport I can't get to work at all because there is no regular bus service to Foxholes."
Sixteen-year-old Carl said the scheme had given him his independence.
"I had to rely totally on lifts from my family to get to work, but of course, it wasn't the same as having the freedom to organise my time to suit my work hours," he said.
Vicky said: "It's vital to have a scheme like this in our rural area. Without it, my mum would have to take time off her own job to take me to work and collect me.
"I'm so pleased to have the freedom to get to and from work on my own."
The latest mopeds were paid for by Single Regeneration Budget funds from Yorkshire Forward.
Updated: 12:26 Wednesday, August 06, 2003
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