Frequently asked questions

You qualify if you are elderly or disabled and cannot use public transport, and you live in the Basildon borough: Basildon, Billericay or Wickford.

Our transport runs Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. We do not run at weekends or on bank holidays. The booking line is open Monday to Friday, 10am to 2pm. Please book at least 3 working days before you travel.

Our transport runs across the Basildon borough (Basildon, Billericay and Wickford) for health appointments, shopping, social events and day centres. For hospitals outside the borough there is MOBY, our out-of-area hospital service. If you are not sure whether we can take you somewhere, call us on 01268 465858 and ask.

Yes, but they need to be registered with the scheme too: call the office on 01268 465858 and we will send them a form. If you need help during the journey, they join as your escort: they pay the registration fee, and then they travel with you without paying a fare. A friend who simply wants to come with you pays their own membership and fare.

Yes. All of our minibuses are wheelchair accessible. We need to assess your chair or scooter first and attach a tag to it, so please tell us about it when you register.

Membership is £25 a year for an individual, from October to October, and £30 a year for a group. If you do not have an Essex County Council bus pass, each journey costs £6.00 for up to 3 miles, then 60p for every mile after that. If you have a bus pass, your journeys in the Basildon borough are included in your membership: show your pass on every journey. Bus pass holders travel free on our Basildon Flexi Route. Hospitals outside the borough are covered by MOBY, our out-of-area hospital service, which is priced by the mileage.

Yes. For Basildon Hospital and other appointments in the borough, call us on 01268 465858 with the date, the time and the place, at least 3 working days before. For Southend, Broomfield, Orsett and Brentwood hospitals, use MOBY, our out-of-area hospital service: no membership needed, priced by the mileage and quoted when you book.

MOBY takes you to appointments at Southend Hospital, Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Orsett Hospital and Brentwood Community Hospital. If your appointment is somewhere else outside the Basildon borough, call us on 01268 465858 and ask.

MOBY is priced by the mileage of your journey, and costs less than a taxi. We tell you the price when you book by phone, and you pay at the same time. You do not need to be a member.

Yes, we can cut your nails if you have diabetes. There are a few other conditions that mean we cannot cut your nails; the registration form lists them, or call us on 01268 294334 and ask.

Yes. We can now cut the nails of people who take blood-thinning medication, at home, with our specially trained cutter. A home visit for people on blood thinners costs £25. Tell us about your medication when you book on 01268 294334.

Yes. We can take card payments over the phone.

No, you do not need to do anything before a visit. If you have a particular towel you would like us to use, have it ready. Our cutters bring their own equipment.

Home visits are on an eight-weekly rota, Wednesday to Friday, between 9am and 3pm. Call us on 01268 294334 to book your appointment. At our walk-in clinics you can come whenever a clinic is on.

Six weeks at a time. After six weeks we check the chair is safe and undamaged, and then you can hire it for another six weeks, and so on. There is no charge for the hire period itself.

Yes. The deposit is £85 and is refunded when the wheelchair is returned in the same condition. You also need to be a member, which costs £25 a year.

Yes, we can deliver a wheelchair anywhere in the Basildon borough for £10. Or you can collect it from the George Hurd Centre by appointment, Monday to Friday between 10am and 2pm: call 01268 294235 first so we can check we have the right chair in stock.

MIDAS is the Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme, a nationally recognised standard for people who drive minibuses for community groups, schools and charities. It is run by the Community Transport Association. All of our own drivers are MIDAS trained, and we run courses for other organisations at the George Hurd Centre.

We run courses as and when, depending on availability, at the George Hurd Centre in Basildon, so there is no fixed timetable. Call Connie Bunyan on 01268 465858 to ask about the next course and the price, or send us an enquiry and choose "MIDAS Training".

You could become a volunteer car driver, taking our clients to appointments and activities in your own car with your mileage reimbursed, or help our office team with the phones, bookings and paperwork.

Yes. Every volunteer has a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check, because the people we help are often older or vulnerable. We arrange it with you.

Volunteer car drivers have their mileage reimbursed. Ask us about any other expenses when we talk.

At the George Hurd Centre, Audley Way, Basildon, SS14 2FL. There is a map and directions on our Contact page.

Our phone lines are open Monday to Friday, 10am to 2pm: the transport line (01268 465858), the toenail cutting line (01268 294334) and the wheelchair hire line (01268 294235). Outside those hours, leave a voicemail: we check it from 9.30am to 5pm.

Call us on 01268 465858, or write to us at the George Hurd Centre, Audley Way, Basildon, SS14 2FL. We take every comment seriously.