A MEMBER of a charity that specialises in getting people around Clydebank and Drumchapel has opened up on the "emotional" impact of the service closing last month.

Will Thomson was one of the founders of G15 Buses which was created seven years ago to help those without transport to get to things such as GP appointments and the supermarket.

And he opened up on the original idea for the project, as well as the recent struggles involved in keeping it going.

He said: "The idea was not to make a profit but to provide a service that the people needed.

"If a different service was put in place at that time [2017] it would have been three times what we charged because a profit margin is involved.

"The core organisation had four people working for it. However, members left over time which made things more difficult.

"Eventually there were only two of us working on the project.

"We managed like that for a while but when it became clear the bus was going to need a lot of money spent on it then we decided it couldn’t continue."

Those using the service paid a small fee to keep it running and it was free for those who were disabled or over 65.

However, the depleted passenger numbers after the coronavirus pandemic made things difficult.

There was funding provided last November by The Robertson Trust fund which helped G15 buses continue for a short period but eventually that ran out.

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"We ended up not having enough passengers to keep the initiative going," he continued.

"When the fuel prices went up we managed to get through that, then when we didn’t have outside funding for a year we managed that but it just became too much.

"It took a real mental toll on the volunteers. I had sleepless nights worrying about it all which is not healthy.

"It became a struggle. I went from loving being able to give something back to the community to it then becoming very difficult.

"It was obvious in the end we had to stop it. We couldn’t continue on."

The bus's last journey was on April 13 and the charity honoured the rest of its appointments until the end of last month by providing private hire taxis to take people around.

Since the closure of the charity, Will and the other volunteers have received plenty of support on social media.

"The feedback we have received since announcing the closure has been heartwarming," he added.

"I really appreciated the comments on Facebook and it is some comfort to know we played a role in helping those within the community."