Joint initiative to create mobile resource for Ryedale

North Yorkshire County Council 4Youth, Ryedale District Council, Ryedale Voluntary Action and RYECAT Community Transport have been working together to develop a ground breaking new project that is designed to take services out into the rural communities of Ryedale.

The substantial financial support of the County & District Councils and Lloyds TSB provided over £100,000 to commission the vehicle and equipment.

The project has been named RYEPOD, and has been designed to accommodate a wide range of activities from mobile youth club to information centers.

The focus of the project is a large custom built vehicle specifically designed for use as a community resource, able to provide youth clubs, staging music events, Information services, outreach/training, village fetes and galas, mobile health services and clinics.

RYEPOD has been fitted out with five separate areas:

• An interview room that doubles up as a kitchen.
• A seating area with a large screen TV DVD player and removable table 
• A working area where people can sit and use lap top computers.
• Outside there is a large awning on either side, which effectively trebles the available useable space. There are also a bank of built in playstations and DVD players.

RYEPOD will be used by 4Youth on three days a week to establish youth clubs in rural communities and also available for hire to community groups and other organisations.

The project will be officially launched by Janet Waggott (chief executive RDC) on Janury10th at Malton/Norton Rugby club.

“As a major funder of this project the County Council are pleased to have played a central part in developing this new and exciting resource for Ryedale, which will enable service delivery to reach out in a real and tangible way to some of the most rural and remote locations.”
North Yorkshire County Council spokesperson

“Ryedale District Council are extremely pleased to be able to support and sponsor this innovative project.  This initiative will enable a number of people to access services and opportunities which previously would have been difficult.  Community transport is a priority for Ryedale and the Local Strategic Partnership and this will be a real benefit to a lot of people in the rural areas of Ryedale.  A lot of work has been put into this over a long period of time and I am extremely pleased that people are going to get the benefit of this hard work.”
Janet Waggott – Chief executive Ryedale District Council

“This project will require the professional expertise of the RYECAT team to ensure that it is made available to the widest possible audience. RYECAT’s role is to take bookings, provide an experienced driver operator and ensure that the vehicle is maintained to the highest standards at all times. The long term sustainability of the project depends on generating additional income by hiring ryepod to the greatest number of communities when it isn’t being used by 4 Youth. RYECAT are very keen to see RYEPOD working out in the rural communities where many people experience great difficulty in accessing services”.
K Watherington (RYECAT CEO) Dec 2007