A LIFELINE mobility service in Yate is facing major cutbacks after a drop in funding.

Shopmobility hires out scooters to people with disabilities and mobility problems from Yate Shopping Centre for a day to do their shopping or on longer leases.

The service had been funded by the National Lottery since it was launched in 2006 but that funding has now finished and the scheme only received half the Service Level Agreement it applied to South Gloucestershire Council for in its place. It means Shopmobility is facing a shortfall of between £15,000 and £20,000 over the next three years.

Project worker Sheridan Crew, the only paid member of staff at Shopmobility which runs out of Yate Library four days a week, said it was a worrying time.

“We would like to expand the service but at the moment we are having to look at restricting it given the funding situation,” he told the Gazette.

“It has come at a time when there is a greater need for the service. Our numbers have at least doubled in the nine years we have been open.”

The service has 1,160 people registered to hire out one of its fleet of 16 scooters and one powered wheelchair.

“We are not just about providing scooters,” added Mr Crew. “We allow people a little independence so they can go off and do their own shopping and give their carer or husband or wife a little break.

“We often signpost people for further help and assistance, or in some cases to charities which will provide them with their own scooter.

“And we are a contact for some very isolated people. Being confined to your house or flat is almost like self-imprisonment and that happens to some people who have suffered a sudden stroke or heart attack.

“There is an ageing population in this area and we know there are people who can’t get to us.”

Other than The Mall at Cribbs Causeway, the scheme is the only one of its kind in South Gloucestershire and has members from all over the district as well as further afield including Gloucester and Weston-super-Mare.

Member Ken Pullin, who travels from Stroud every Saturday to do his shopping at Yate, said: "I would be stuck at home without Shopmobility and it is the only time I am able to get out and about and meet people."

The service is supported by Yate Town Council but ore grants are needed to secure its future.

“It is not viable to run on its own but it is a very much needed service,” said Mr Crew.

“Maybe there are some big businesses prepared to help or members of the public might like to make a donation.”

The Shopmobility office is open at Yate Library on Tuesdays and Fridays (9.30am-4pm) and Thursdays and Saturdays (9.30am-2pm) or call 01454 868718 or 07999 574474 or e mail shopmobilitysouthglos@yahoo.com to help.