News and Events
This is where you will find what's been going on at GoFar. Some of the events we've held or been to....Some of the events we are planning....Stuff you need to know about our trips or contract work or stuff going on in the office or just a few daft things to lighten the mood....I suppose really we could have called it the GoFar Gossip Page...love a good gossip! Anyway, read on...who knows what you'll discover
Medibus Service
Good peoples can we clarify some things about the Medibus service we offer.
Although it is the “Medibus” We are not hospital transport, we don’t have trained attendants on the bus and our drivers are…drivers. We can pick you up at your house and take you to your destination and we can take you home again, but…..
If you struggle with mobility and need help when you get to the hospital, you will need to take someone with you. We have accessible vehicles with tail lifts to help you, but we are not guaranteed parking slots at the hospitals so it is highly likely the driver will be unable to leave the vehicle so having someone with you is the best solution.
We would ask that when ring to book transport, you give the call centre staff as much information as you can so they can make sure you have the correct transport for your needs.
If you are going for a procedure/operation that involves any form of anaesthesia you should be aware we can take you in, but it is highly likely we cannot take you home. There are two reasons for this:
The hospital cannot say for certain when your procedure/operation will take place. Even if you are at the hospital in the morning, you may not go in for your procedure/operation until the afternoon and there is a good chance you will not be finished by 16.00 (4pm) when our service ends.
If you have had any form of anaesthesia, you may suffer from after effects for some time. As we do not have attendants on our vehicles there would be no one to help you should you feel unwell on your return journey.
The best option should you be having a procedure/operation is to make the hospital aware that you will need Patient Transport
Thank you for your understanding with this. We do try to help as many people as possible but we are limited as to what we can do.
Ch Ch Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes
As the late great Mr Bowie once said....There are some changes coming to the Services we are offer.
This will begin from Tuesday 2nd April.
Check our Services page for more information
Medibus Service
Polite reminder good peoples.
Our Medibus services are for Medical Appointments...We are unable to stop off on the way back to collect groceries.... We can't just pop up to the chemist to pick up a prescription....We can only do transport for the appointment that has been booked. Most if not all chemists now offer free prescription delivery services.
Could we also ask that when you book an appointment, please book the time of your appointment, don't add on extra time for us to collect you, we will sort that before we ring and confirm things with you.
Please remember, the Medibus can get very busy at times. You may have to wait to be picked up after your appointment, there is nothing the driver can do about this. They will always leave you a contact number and will get back to you as soon as they can. Please stay close to where you were dropped off so the driver can find you. When the driver does get back to you, please be ready to go as he may still have other passengers to collect.
Our drivers will always try to get you home as soon as they can, no one likes to be sitting around, but there are times when it just is not possible, so your patience would be greatly appreciated
Thank you for your understanding
Thank You
We would like to say a huge thank you to the following Parish Councils for their recent donations. It will be put towards continuing to deliver our vital services within the community.
North Cave PC. Bubwith PC. Newbald PC. Newport PC. Holme on Spalding Moor PC
Thank you all so much
2024 is our 20th Birthday year
Time flies when your having fun. We have some events planned and our AGM in August will be a celebration of what we have acheived over the past 20 years.
From starting with just one minibus, we now have a fleet of 8 vehicles. We also have an amazing staff team and an even more amazing set of volunteers....we wouldn't be here without either of them.
Check our Twitter(X) and Facebook pages to see what's going on....we'll be posting some memories
Thanks to all our members for the continued support...here's to the next twenty!!
Medibus Service
Our Medibus services to Goole, Scunthorpe, Castle Hill and Hull do seem to be getting busier. We've made this leaflet to explain - When Medibus services end......What to do if you need assistance........Getting you home from an appointment.
If you have appointments at Hull or Castle Hill, please remember this service is only available to Goole and Howden residents.
Our Services page show what else we can do to help
Residents at Five Rivers recently held a coffee morning to support local charities and this time GoFar was their chosen charity.
We were told, "GoFar do an incredibly valuable job in the Goole community and we are delighted to support them as best we can"
Christine GoFars Business Manager said, "On behalf of everyone at GoFar, we would like to thank everyone at Five Rivers for their generous and kind donation"
Big thanks to the Screwfix Foundation for their generous donation.
This has enabled us to fit gutters to the offices with water butts attached so we use the collected rainwater. It has also allowed us to purchase a scaffold platform to help with the upkeep of our buses
We've had some business cards produced for us by https://www.yorkshiredesigncompany.co.uk/
A fantastic job, they are just what we needed.
Pop over and have a look at the website...who knows there may be something they can do for you
Big thanks to Awards for All for their grant of £9,990. This will contribute towards the running costs for GoFar outings for 1 year with our...Ready Steady GoFar Project. It will also contribute towards our ongoing "Hook Shopper" bus and an outing for Families in Goole (FIG) group to the seaside next year.
We also have to say a big thank you to Drax Community Fund. Their grant of £2000 for one year will help subsidise the cost of transport and will be used for running costs towards:
GoFar lunch outings, the Hook Shopper bus (Hook Residents) and a summer outing for Families in Goole (FIG)
We also have to say thank you to Six Penny Windfarm for the grant of £2000 for one year’s funding.
This grant will be used to subsidise the cost of transport on our Howdenshire day trips.
It will also go towards the cost of providing transport for the Hook Walk to Health and Hook Gardening Club, allowing them to access walks and gardens in the Yorkshire region. This in turn will allow them days out to view different scenery and enjoy some socialising which can be an aid to their health and wellbeing.
These are our latest GoFar Leaflets
You can pick them up from the office and there will be some circulating around town I would imaging.
If you want to look at them you can look on here, if you want to own one....they are free...pop in the office
Hospital Service
Hull Royal Infirmary & Castle Hill
Our service to Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill hospital is running well and is getting quite popular. At the moment it is still running from Monday to Thursday for appointments between 09.00 - 15.00 (the service ends at 16.00) but will eventually run five days a week.
Please be aware, unfortunately, we are unable to offer attendants on this service, if you require assistance at the hospital, it would be best to have someone go with you, contact the hospital to arrange for help or use the Passenger Transport Service
Details are opposite...
Lottery Funding Success
£203,975 of Lottery money will enable community transport groups in the East Riding get more people to their hospital appointments in a new project that is to be called Home to Hospital (H2H).
The Holderness Area Rural Transport (H.A.R.T.) and Goole GoFar working under the umbrella community transport company East Yorkshire Community Transport (EYCT) Have been successful in their bid to the lottery for funding which will help them deliver transport services to residents in the Bridlington, Goole & Howden area who need to attend hospital appointments at the Hull and Scarborough hospitals.
In 2008 the two well established transport groups came together & formed EYCT to enable them to work together in partnership, sharing resources and information to help secure the community transport offer. The groups have worked through the last 12 months making sure their passengers were able to attend local hospitals and access centres to receive their vaccinations and news that they are to receive this money will secure the work they do for another 3 years.
Cllr Jane Evison who is the chair of EYCT said, “We are so very pleased to have been awarded this amazing grant which allows us to continue helping those people who live in our towns & villages to get to hospital appointments. The HART service was particularly well received in Bridlington when the existing transport to the Scarborough & Hull hospitals was withdrawn over a year ago, this money will now allow us to help far more people. I am also aware that the service is under great demand in the Goole & Howdenshire area, at a time when people need our services & support more than ever, we are delighted to be able to offer our help.”
“We work closely with ERYC to ensure our services compliment those already on offer and our thanks to the council for the tremendous support we receive. The award of this grant from the Lottery provides the financial security we need to reach our more vulnerable residents & also work to attract more volunteers into our groups to help deliver them”
Details of when the service will start will be posted on here and our Social Media pages
Funding - The National LotteryCommunity Fund & HM Government
Funding from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund, will support GoFar over the next six months, enabling us to offer services to our vulnerable and isolated members and bring some form of normality back during this current crisis. Thanks to the Government for making this possible.
#CommunitiesCan @TNLComFund @DCMS
Grant Funding
Our thanks go to the Joseph and Annie Cattle Trust for their grant, allowing us to buy PPE for our team here at GoFar. It means a lot to us knowing that people are supporting us through this pandemic. The grant will allow us to continue offering our services to those most in need in our community. Thank you
You can follow the link to the Joseph and Annie cattle trust here (please note links may not be secure)
Edward Gostling Foundation
We would like to thank The Edward Gostling Foundation for their kind help during the Covid pandemic. It means so much to everyone involved with Gofar that they could help us out...Thank You
Two Ridings
We need to say a big THANK YOU to the Two Ridings Community Foundation for the help during the current Covid situation. In these uncertain times, it really does make a big difference knowing someone is there to back you up. Thank you so much
Brelms Trust
Thank you to the brelms trust for all your support, it really does mean a lot to everyone here at GoFar...Thank you