The Motability Foundation has commissioned research to better understand the impact of their Community Transport grant programme to help them adapt and improve any grants offered in the future.
Between April 2022 and March 2025, the Community Transport grant programme provided over £14 million in funding to 33 organisations across the UK.
It was developed to make an immediate impact for disabled people, by awarding funding to develop, expand and improve community transport options. Funding could be used for staff or volunteer training, buying accessible vehicles, upscaling existing initiatives, increasing awareness of the services for potential passengers and influencing strategy and policy within the sector.
The evaluation has been delivered by the New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), a social sector consultancy that supports charities, foundations and individuals to maximise social impact.
What did the evaluation find?
To carry out the evaluation, NPC conducted interviews and surveys with current grant recipients and their service-users.
Grant recipients reported increased visibility (83%), greater staff and volunteer numbers (83%), and enhanced capacity (52%).
Meanwhile, their service users reported significant benefits, including better access to essential services, improved wellbeing, and stronger social connections.
The evaluation recommended that the Motability Foundation expands their influence by engaging national stakeholders, convening policymakers, and supporting experimental initiatives.
Read the full report (PDF 1.1 MB).
“Our services users can rely on us for the foreseeable future”
One organisation that received a grant told NPC: “Multi-year grants such as the one provided by the Motability Foundation are essential to the sustainability of small charities such as ours.
“With a three-year grant I know we can employ at least one really good driver in a decent quality vehicle for the grant period to support those most in need. The grant offers a level of security to run at least one vehicle, which in turn means our services users can rely on us for the foreseeable future. I wish I had more grants like this!”
“Lifeline to passengers”
Natascha Dekkers, Head of Impact and Evaluation at the Motability Foundation said: “This report has given us valuable insight into the impact our Community Transport grant programme has made to disabled people and in the wider sector.
“We have seen that community transport can be a lifeline to passengers, by supporting independent living, reducing isolation, and improving access to services.
“Awarding grants to charities and organisations offering community transport services or working to improve the service helps us to make an immediate difference to the transport needs of disabled people.”
Learn more
We are committed to continuing our support for disabled people by using the £50 million donation from 2023 to introduce new funding for charities and organisations to apply to via our grants to charities and organisations programmes from summer 2025.
Read more about grants to charities and organisations grant programmes.