Heartbeat: Sharing is caring – car scheme helps Trust go green

December 2, 2019

Colleagues have been racing to sign up to our innovative car sharing scheme that makes it easier than ever to share journeys to and from work across our Sandwell, City and Rowley Hospital sites.

Heartbeat caught up with Sustainability Officer, Fran Silcocks to find out about the new scheme. She said “Research suggests that nearly half of people would journey share with someone they know, yet many people travel each day with empty seats. This is why it makes perfect sense to car share.

“We’ve partnered with Faxi who specialise in innovative carpooling programmes. A leader in their field, the new system offers a smartphone app which connects people so they can car share to and from work. The app offers superb map design with real-time location and traffic information. It makes it easy to partner with someone keen to be green.”

Carpooling is also a great way to reduce your monthly commuting bill whilst also reducing your carbon footprint. Don’t just take our word for it though – Dawn Hall, Waste and Decommissioning Manager has been car sharing and is a real advocate of the scheme.

She said “I believe it’s everybody’s responsibility to do what they can to reduce congestion on our roads. It improves the quality of air we breathe which is why I car share into work as much as I can. If I’m unable to do this, I use public transport like the bus or the metro.”

She added: “I hope that my colleagues across the organisation will embrace car sharing. By doing this it may also help to reduce parking pressures across our sites.”

The more people we have registered, the more successful our car sharing scheme becomes. For more information and details of how to register, we have set up some information on Connect: https://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/estates/sustainability/car-sharing/

If you have any other questions, please contact Francesca.silcocks@nhs.net.