| Young
people who live in rural areas of Gloucestershire and want to take
up further education can face a vicious cycle of poor transport links
and having little money to do anything about it.
Now
Gloucestershire Rural Community Council have teamed up with the
Gloucestershire Education Transport Partnership to launch the new
Jump 2 Ed scheme which aims to provide transport solutions for students
who want to enter full-time education at Stroud, Forest of Dean
or Hartpury college.
In
a nutshell
Basically
the scheme is designed to enable young people who want to further
their job prospects to travel to a place of study. For some young
people, poor transport links to and from a college can be a serious
barrier to taking up further education and getting ahead in life.
The
partnership are initially offering ten mopeds to students who would
find it very difficult to attend college from their homes in remote
rural areas or areas that have poor transport links.
The
partnership will also provide funding to cover basic training in
the use of the moped, safety equipment and the cost of insurance.
Positive
effect
It's
believed that giving young people from rural areas easier access
to education will have a positive knock-on effect on the local economy
through a more highly skilled rural workforce. Gloucestershire Rural
Community Council Assistant Director Lesley Archer said:
"It
is hoped that through this new provision young people will be able
to attend a college of their choice and gain a recognised qualification."
If
you live in rural Gloucestershire and you want to study at either
Stroud, Forest of Dean or Hartpury college but can't because the
transport links in your area aren't up to much, then this could
be for you!
For
more information or to find out if you qualify for the scheme call
01594 542894.
Your
comments:
Perhaps it would be more practical to have a widespread effect at
tackling rural transport problems. Like reducing the cost of transport.
Since
EMA has been introduced, bus fares to my college have increase dramatically.
A fact my college has overlooked.
I am
a Royal Forest of Dean College student and when I started at the
College 2 years ago my Bus Fare was only £1.80 return from
Bream to the college (a journey of 5 or so miles). Now it is £2.50
return. Costing 12.50 a week, at least £57.50 a month.
A further
hindrance is that in order to keep up with my work I try to stay
in college until 7pm, in the library which is open until 7 most
evenings. However I have no provision to get home, relying on 'lifts'
from others because it is to expensive to pay the combined college
and public bus service charge of up to £5.65 a day!
Congratulations
to those 10 who get mopeds but what about the rest of us?
Many students find it difficult to get to college and 10 'token' mopeds
are not going to address this problem. 
Rhian Llewellyn
................................................
If
you would like to add a comment then you can email us at: gloucestershire@bbc.co.uk
|
Gloucestershire
Rural Community Council is offering young people between the ages
of 16 and 19 the loan of a brand new 50cc moped...
