CTO’s foe turns friend in relaunch

The Cambridgeshire taxi driver whose trade association helped expose Fenland Association Community Transport (FACT) and allied operations has pledged support for the re-launched organisation.

Dave Humphrey led the Cambridge Bus, Coach and Taxi Association (CBCTA) in a lengthy battle with FACT, alleging abuses of it permit conditions and state aid rules members. As a result, its former manager, Jo Philpott, remains central to a police investigation.

Following FACT’s reorganisation under new Chairman, Gary Christy, the CTO has now ceased running tendered council contracts and is set to reach a settlement with the county council for state aid received…and has won the trust of Dave Humphrey.

“Gary has done all he said he’d do – FACT is now purely a CTO, and over recent months, we have formed a close relationship,” Dave told Bus and Coach Buyer.

So much so, that on a fundraising evening described as ‘extraordinary’ by the Cambs Times newspaper – whose Editor, John Elworthy, provided support for the original campaign to expose FACT – taxi drivers and commercial operators came together to raise money for the re-born FACT.

A horse racing night in the Fenland town of March raised almost £1,200 for FACT, around £600 of which came from Dave’s organisation: “FACT now has 100% of my support,” he told Bus and Coach Buyer. “It is now what it set out to be – a charitable transport organisation supporting the local community.”

Gary Christy said: “This was a new approach for us and is the first of many events we are hoping will help us to continue to provide our community transport services and an opportunity for all those in the community to show their support for the new FACT.”

He added: “This is a starting point for our new board of trustees and we are looking to recruit new trustees, in particular, treasurer and secretary roles.

“We are looking for people who bring knowledge of community and transport, anybody interested in joining us for this journey please contact [email protected] in the first instance. All training will be provided for these roles.”