Customer Comments on on the closure of FLM

Flm has been inundated with thank you's. We reproduce these here, anonymised and thank everyone for what has been a great partnership. 

GENERAL SERVICE

This is so devastating. Not only for the communities impacted, but also for all the volunteers including yourself that have put so much time and effort into First and Last Mile. I often think of the day we spent together as one of my fondest memories in my time at CAG. I am so heartbroken for you all. Thanks for everything you've done to provide an invaluable service for so many.

I am sad for you. You and your team have moved heaven and earth to launch and then maintain the service. You should be proud. Rural transport is in a crisis nationwide.

I'm so sorry to hear this news. It doesn’t seem fair given all the hard work you have put in, sounds like OCC have been a little short sighted to say the least.

I am genuinely saddened to hear about First and Last Mile's closure, and I can only imagine how difficult this decision and period has been for you and your dedicated team. First and Last Mile has been such an important part of our community transport network, and your commitment to serving our residents, particularly those who rely most heavily on public transport has been truly valued. Your team's dedication has not gone unnoticed, and I can understand how frustrating it must be in facing the end of the organisation. Please know that our gratitude extends far beyond financial support - you have provided an essential lifeline for many in our community, and the personal touch and local knowledge that First and Last Mile brought to the service will be missed. I hope that the experience and expertise within First and Last Mile will continue to benefit our community in other ways. Thank you for everything you've done for Eynsham and the surrounding villages.

You provided a friendly and reliable service to get my daughter to school, even hand delivering her bus pass. It always felt 'local' in the best way and the basis of school buses allowed the service to exist and provide an absolute lifeline to others without cars who aren't served by public transport in this rural area. I'm not only sad to see you go, I'm sad that it feels like so much passion, dedication, hard work and ingenuity has not been rewarded. You found and developed a solution to a problem others couldn't crack. Well done for what you did achieve and I'm sorry that it's ended this way.

I'm sorry to hear this, although I wasn't a regular user, the times I used it were a delight. Friendly drivers and a bit of chit chat. You all provided such a great community service, and got involved in the village events as well. Thank you all for your service.

You have done so much with so little. Well done all and thank you for your service. You will be missed.

It's been a fantastic service, lovely people too. I'm very sorry to see it go. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in it.

Thank all so much the community have been so grateful to have such a friendly & caring service.

So sorry to hear that another bus company has been accepted and that they think they can run a service more cheaply. Thank you for all of your help, and dedication to the village. Best wishes to the future.

What a wonderful service you have provided! Those who are mobile enough to use buses must have been very grateful.

It is sad that First & Last Mile will finish at the end of August. They have been a great service to our local community and will be very much missed. Always friendly and helpful.

Many thanks for what you have given to the local communities.

Thank you so much for all that you have done, it is very much appreciated.

Sad to hear this. Thank you to all involved for serving our village so well.

The Parish Council would like to sincerely thank you for the vital support that you have provided for our community over the past years. We will be extremely sorry to see you go and only hope that WOCT can provide the same excellent service as you have.

This is a terrible loss. Thank you David and all your drivers and helpers. You did something amazing for our community.

So, so sad, a crying shame. All the hard work that David and ALL the team & drivers have done for the community the last few years, I am gutted. The drivers have become friends to us all and have 'gone the extra mile' to help us customers. You will be sorely missed, a massive thank you to you all and I wish you well for the future.

This is so sad and unbelievable, we will miss you all so much. A huge thank you to David and all your drivers. You have become our friends and have gone above and beyond your duties. I am absolutely devastated at the outcome.

SCHOOL SERVICE

I can't thank enough for all your efforts. You have provided a very reliable and friendly service which has allowed our daughter to get to and from school, plus you've done it with great care and professionalism. She has really enjoyed her school bus experience as a result, and we are extremely grateful. You have made a real difference to many families in this area and have done your absolute best. We are very sorry to see the service go, thank you again.

We would like to thank you and your team for all your service and help on school transport to Bartholomew ............ has enjoyed using the service , which has been efficient, safe and cost effective. The cost of the Pulhams School Service is unbelievable and as a single parent, I cannot afford the £1000 a year. As of yet, I have not applied for a place. Once again, thank you for all your hard work and prompt communications over the last 12 months. FLM will be sorely missed by the Community.

I'm so sorry to hear the funding has been withdrawn for FLM, your help getting our daughter to school has been immeasurable. I can see how committed FLM have been to the community & really appreciate the support you've provided.

Just a quick note to say we ( myself, my wife and my eldest daughter) think you and the team have done a wonderful job and are hugely grateful for the service you have provided to our daughter since she started at Bartholomew School. We were extremely disappointed when we found out your service could not continue. In truth, we were a little nervous when she started in Year 7 about the FLM service offered to us. You, and the team have far exceeded our expectations. Well done and thank you for the last few years.

So sad to see you finishing. I have no confidence in pulhams providing school transport. I have seen how they drive around the village and that it was pulhams who nearly put me and a car full of children in the ditch.

Thank you for all of your hard work - as a family, we appreciate all that you have done to amend/ increase services so that our children had an opportunity to get to Bartholomew School on a reliable, reasonably priced bus.

I want to say thank you that you and your team have done for the community and our son. It has been an excellent school transport and it has been so nice to see him using the service to pop back to Eynsham to use the skate park, giving him some valuable autonomy. I am beyond disappointed at the way the council have dealt with this. The Pulhams private service is a poor outcome for local communities and a significant step back in the provision of public transport - we will not be using it. It remains to be seen whether there will be any meaningful bus service serving Stanton Harcourt but I won't be holding my breath.

We have always appreciated such a high quality service that FLM have offered and felt perfectly safe sending our daughter to school using your service. All the drivers have been friendly, including one who saw her waiting at the wrong bus stop, and went back to pick her up and deliver her home. We will not be using Pulhams bus service, and are just trying to work out how she gets to and from school.

So sad to see first and last mile go. The service is exceptional. For piece of mind with the children it has been amazing. Oxford Bus Company ( Pulhams) have big shoes to fill.

Thank you for keeping us updated. Although the reasons for stopping the school service are completely understandable, it is a great shame. Thank you for everything you've done. However it seems the Oxford Bus Company is taking advantage of a situation as they aren't matching your price, they aren't allowing payment per term and they won't allow use of the weekly tickets as you did, so the cost will be substantially more than it has been. And having to pay out almost £1000 in one go ( or more than £1000 over 6 months) will be prohibitive for many. Not your fault, but capitalism at its worst, and the families of local children lose out yet again.

I've only just worked out what a huge price increase this is! We may have to look at driving them ourselves.

Thank you so much for everything you have done over the last 4 years. The service you guys has been amazing! We are so grateful. It's great that there will be a bus for the children in September but the price is worrying many people! At least up until now the children could use their passes at the weekend too!

The cost of a ticket is almost double what we are currently paying with the weekly tickets. We will look into other options of lift shares as I think I speak for many parents when I say this is grossly unfair that subsidised transport is not provided for children even though Standlake Primary school is a feeder school for Bartholomew.

The school service you have provided has been fantastic and we offer our thanks to you all for stepping in and ensuring the children have such a reliable experience.

We are very grateful for all the hard work the first and last mile team have done. However, we cannot feel anything but disappointed with this outcome. It is difficult to see this result as anything but price gouging of parents who have no alternative. Why would the council sanction this. It is a shame that once again the mantra 'all good things must come to an end ' is true. Thanks for all the team's efforts in supporting our transport needs.

Thanks for the brilliant service you have provided. We are truly grateful.

Such a shame. Our son has really enjoyed the freedom this has given him this year but the 'Pulhams ' solution won't fulfil his needs and we won't be using it.