Lottery cash gives veterans the freedom to travel

The National Lottery Community Fund has awarded Glasgow-based charity FARES4FREE £70,000 as it focuses on supporting isolated and vulnerable people.
FARES4FREE founder David GibsonFARES4FREE founder David Gibson
FARES4FREE founder David Gibson

This has included supporting community transport projects which means those who may otherwise not be have to travel have options flexible enough to help participate more fully in local activities.

Among them is FARES4FREE which has collaborated with a wide network of taxi firms and volunteer drivers leading to thousands of free journeys for veterans and their families.

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The Lottery was the charity’s first backer in 2016, and four years on has provided £70,000 to ensuring its vital work can continue.

This will help hundreds of veterans like 37-year-old David Martin from Barrhead.

He said: “I left the Army with a brain injury and I totally understand just how important charities like FARES4FREE are to people like me as they have helped give me my freedom and independence back.

“Over the past four years they have given me so much support; taking me to medical appointments and even as far The Help for Heroes Recovery Centre in North Yorkshire so I could re-connect with friends and colleagues from the Armed Forces family.

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“I am now an ambassador for the charity and want to help other veterans, so I am very grateful to everyone who plays The National Lottery for helping FARES4FREE be in a position to help many more people like me.”

FARES4FREE founder David Gibson added “It means so much to receive this support from The National Lottery Community Fund which was the very first funder to support us back in 2016.

“Back then the £8000 award not only helped us prove our concept worked, but it really was instrumental in getting us up and running.

“Four years on our service is evolving, and this latest funding provides us with security for the next two to three years and helps sustain our Scotland wide community transport service, providing support to hundreds of veterans who need our help.

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“Thanks so much to National Lottery players who are helping us fight isolation one mile at a time. FARES4FREE is much more than just a journey for the people we work with it’s a potential lifeline for them.”

The National Lottery Community Fund is currently focusing on projects which are supporting organisations and communities to respond to the challenge of Covid-19, for more information visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk.

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