The Wigan transport service that needs your help to keep going

There’s a story behind a lot of the quiet, everyday things that keep Wigan moving, and this one starts with a gap that shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

Back in 2017, Ian Tomlinson set up Driven after seeing first-hand just how difficult it was for vulnerable adults across the borough to get from A to B. He had been working closely with the council on the Fix It project, and what he saw stuck with him. People were missing appointments, stuck at home, or simply unable to get out into their own community because the right kind of transport just didn’t exist.

Driven was his answer to that.

Fast forward a few years, and the story shifts. Ian moved on in October 2023, and the responsibility for Driven landed with Amanda, who had been the office manager, and Howard, one of the drivers. By December 2025, Howard had moved on too.

That left Amanda running the service alone. And stopping was never really an option.

“I couldn’t let down the regular clients that used us,” she says. “There are very few alternatives out there.”

So she kept it going.

But here is the reality. Driven now has just one volunteer driver covering the whole of Wigan.

One.

And the demand is only growing. In the last six weeks alone, Amanda has had to turn away more than 30 people who needed help getting to day centres, medical appointments, or simply out of the house.

Not because she wanted to, but because there just are not enough drivers.

That is why she is now asking for help.

Driven relies on volunteer drivers using their own cars to take people where they need to go. It is not complicated work, but it makes a huge difference. The aim is to keep the same driver with the same client, so over time there is trust, familiarity, even friendship.