For community car schemes
Running the scheme should be the easy part.
Via takes the bookings, the driver rota and the mileage paperwork off your kitchen table and puts them in one simple place. Built with volunteer coordinators, for volunteer coordinators.
Rather ask a person first? Call 01223 969459.
A community interest company, accredited and accountable.
Why it matters
Behind every booking is somebody who couldn't get there on their own
A trip to the surgery. The weekly shop. Seeing a friend. For people who have given up driving, or never drove, a volunteer car scheme is often the difference between managing at home and not.
The coordinators who make that happen are volunteers too — usually juggling it around everything else. Via exists to give them their evenings back.
How it works
Three steps, and most of them happen by themselves
If you can use email, you can use Via. There is nothing to install and nothing to update — it works in the web browser you already have.
1. Someone asks for a lift
Take the call as you always have. Type it straight into Via — it remembers your regular passengers, so you rarely type a name twice.
2. Via finds you a driver
It suggests volunteers who are free, live nearby and are happy with that journey. One click sends them the request.
3. The paperwork does itself
Mileage, expenses and reimbursement claims are worked out for you, ready for your treasurer and your council.
Common questions
The questions we get asked most
Most of the coordinators we work with ran their scheme on paper for years, and ran it well. Here is what they usually want to know.
You won't lose your records
Bring your spreadsheets and card files with you. Our import tool moves your drivers, passengers and history across, and we'll do it with you on the phone if you'd rather.
Nobody on your team gets left behind
The question we are asked most is whether older coordinators will cope. Via was built alongside the people who actually run schemes, most of them giving part of their retirement to it. Coaching is unlimited and free, one-to-one if that helps.
Your members' details stay private
Information is stored securely and never sold or shared. Via is built to help you meet your GDPR duties, not add to them.
What's inside
Everything a scheme needs, and nothing it doesn't
Duty rota
See at a glance who is covering today and tomorrow — and who still needs asking.
Driver finder
Suggests the closest available volunteer, which saves fuel as well as phone calls.
Money, sorted
Reimbursement claims in the format your council actually accepts.
Reports that prove your worth
Show your parish council exactly how many journeys you made, and where.
Reminders
Optional email nudges for drivers and passengers cut down no-shows.
As many helpers as you like
Add every coordinator and driver you need. No extra charge, no shared passwords.
What scheme organisers say about Via
Via puts everything into one place and takes the guesswork out of running our scheme.
I am so pleased to see our scheme up and running. It is largely due to the ease of using your software that we have achieved as much as we have so quickly.
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Beyond lifts
Car schemes are where we started, not where we stop
Plenty of groups begin with lifts to the surgery and find themselves organising far more than that. Via grows with you, at no extra cost.
Community transport
Lifts to appointments, shopping and social visits — the journeys Via was built around.
Neighbourhood cares
Coordinated local help for people who need it.
Good neighbours
Small favours, checked and logged properly.
Social prescribing
Connecting people to activities that help.
Time banking
Track the hours given and received.
Time credits
Reward volunteers for what they contribute.
For your drivers too
Volunteers stay when the admin is easy
Drivers get a clear request by email with the pick-up time, the destination and the mileage already worked out. No chasing, no guesswork, no expenses form to puzzle over at the kitchen table.
Keeping the volunteers you already have is usually easier than finding new ones — and it's the thing schemes tell us Via helps with most.
Free for small schemes. Genuinely.
No card, no trial countdown, no salesperson. Smaller schemes use Via for free for as long as they like.
Or call 01223 969459. Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.