A new minibus is helping Islanders with mental health issues access services at a peaceful location on the outskirts of Newport.
The Isorropia Foundation, a wellbeing organisation, has a new base at the Medina Valley Centre in Dodnor Lane and needed to bring its members to the centre from Newport town centre.
A Grant of £16,000 from the Isle of Wight Foundation, made up of the partners behind Island Roads, financed the purchase of the 15-seater accessible bus, which is already transporting members to the site.
Isorropia hopes the bus will also be used for day trips etc in the future and they are looking at hiring out the bus to other organisations when they are not using it.
Charlie Bell and Vicki Haworth, joint CEOs and founders of Isorropia, explained what the minibus meant to them.
Vicki said:
“It is a lifesaver…members were saying they couldn’t get out to Medina Valley Centre as there are no convenient public transport links.
“However, having the bus means we can run a shuttle service, so people can take advantage of our growing range of wellbeing services.”
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Charlie added:
“Here at Isorropia we try not to use diagnoses or labels. Instead, we look at every member as a unique individual and empower them to design a wellbeing programme to best suit their needs.
“We want to offer our heartfelt thanks for the support from the Isle of Wight Foundation.”
Rob Gillespie, chair of trustees at the Isle of Wight Foundation, said:
“Mental health is an area that is freeing itself of the taboos around talking about it. The Isle of Wight Foundation recognised the superb work the Isorropia Foundation were doing with hundreds of people on the Isle of Wight and we wanted to help.
“We’re pleased to see that the grant monies towards the minibus are enabling members to gain support at Isorropia’s new base at the Medina Valley Centre outside Newport.”
Shame some of this money couldn’t be used to end exploitation and increase the pay to more than the minimum wage for their employees.
If they did that the ‘founders’ wouldn’t be able to afford to drive around in expensive luxury cars or buy up properties in Spain!
What a ridiculous and unfair comment. I work with the organisation and absolutely no-one is exploited. This pot of funding was specifically made available for transport. Having taken a beautiful premises on the Medina River, which our members absolutely love, this minibus is now a lifeline to those unable to make it to the centre.
Ir maybe they should have left the existing mental health services open .
At last a body has acknowledged that setting up in hard-to-reach locations makes it almost impossible for their users to attend. Do you think the managers of St Mary’s will follow and put on a shuttle bus from Newport? No, neither do I
Yes, wouldn’t it be great if there was a bus route between Newport Bus Station, St Mary’s and Cowes which ran every 10 minutes!
yes luccombe and wouldn’t it be great if the newport st marys shuttle bus had stops directly outside the entrance to the hospital, with the other one just next to a zebra crossing on the other side of the road – they could even call the shuttle bus – number one and paint it green.
It needs to go into the hospital grounds and drop people off right outside the entrances to the building. The walk from the bus stops outside the hospital grounds to the main outpatients department is a very long way if you have mobility issues – not helped by the fact that it is all uphill
There is, there’s a shuttle bus literally every 10 minutes.
Why does this bus need six wheels?? Could it be depressed obesity that’s the problem???
I know this is meant to be really helpful and positive and I think the intention is there.. but can we just think about the many struggling people who’s mental health problems have been signposted by the writing on the bus.. that’s enough to put people off going if they had no other way to get there. Maybe just a plain colour would’ve been awesome instead?
The ethos at Isorropia Foundation is to change the stigma around mental health. Everyone will suffer with their mental health at one time or another and its nothing to be ashamed of. Those using the minibus and Isorropia Foundation, are taking responsibility for their lives and using resources available to help them reach those resources.