car club MEMBER profiles
As
more people join car clubs across the UK, they are finding that the
club offers them choice, convenience, and cost savings. On this page
we have profiled a cross section of members, highlighting the
benefits which are important to them.
Ruth
Hayes, 29 is an Assistant Accountant.
She lives in Wandsworth,
London
.
When 29 year old,
Ruth Hayes broke down in the middle of a box junction in her Nissan
Micra the week before she was due to move house, she needed a new
car fast. A colleague at work suggested she join a car club as a
temporary solution, just to cope with all the loading and unloading
of furniture and trips to the dump – but a year later and she has
no intention of ever owning her own car again. “It’s so much
more convenient just paying for a car when I use it and not have the
worry of maintaining it.”
Living in the middle of a number of car club parking bays, Ruth
always finds there is a car available when she needs it and now
books one out at least once a month. “Lots of my trips recently
have involved trips to the dump as we’re ripping out the kitchen
and I put dust sheets down as the car’s are always so clean,”
she said, adding that she has now persuaded some of her work
colleagues to join.
Nichola
Bennett, 28 is a Social Worker. She lives in Crouch End,
London 
After selling her own car
because she couldn’t afford all the running costs, Nichola
Bennett, realised that there were some things that you simply
couldn’t do on public transport such as moving house and big
shopping trips. But adding in the extra money she’d
need to pay the Congestion Charge, she realised that she simply
couldn’t justify owning a car again. She then saw a leaflet about
a car club and signed up two years ago. “ I did the sums and
worked out that I’d be saving at least £150 a month if I used it
once a fortnight,” she said, adding that in London, public
transport compliments the service as she often uses buses and trains
to get into her office in Camden and books a car club car when she
needs it. This has included trips to
Brighton
at the weekend and also driving her friends around! She says: “I
will never go back to owning a car; this is so much cheaper and
easier”.
Paul
Hately, 43, and his wife Emma both work in the Gherkin in the City
and live a 25 minute walk from the office in Bermondsey, South
London. They joined a car club 18 months ago.
Paul says, “We
used to live in
Switzerland
where car sharing is well established so we were familiar with the
concept. When we returned, we moved to a flat south of the river
with a car space that we didn’t need. So we contacted a car club
and rented them our space, and now have the added bonus of a car
right outside our flat. In addition, there are now two or three
other cars quite nearby so we can usually get one of these on a
short bus ride, if not the one outside.
“It’s economical, I feel better about the environment and
liberated by not having the responsibility of organising maintenance
and so on. It’s a totally flexible scheme. We just borrow the car
when we need it – usually for weekends out of
London
visiting friends, or family in places that are not so accessible by
train.”
Maureen
Gilmartin, 40, a secondary school teacher from
West London
has been using a car club for over a year.
Maureen says,
“I have just moved flats to within walking distance to the school
where I worked and a car club had a base right next door. It was
ideal as I was able to walk to work every day, save lots of money by
not running a car, get fitter and yet have a car at my disposal as
and when I needed it. I felt I was doing my bit for the environment
and the community by not adding to the traffic jams and pollution.
“Another great
thing is that you can take advantage of the scheme as and when you
please at the click of a mouse or a phone call away. It’s so handy
for quick visits to the supermarket when carrying heavy bags or
popping into central
London
for a night out with the independence and freedom afforded from
having your own wheels. I would recommend this scheme to anyone.”
Anderson
Wilde and Harris is a company of chartered surveyors. They signed up
15 employees to a car club in May 2007.
Anderson Wilde
and Harris uses the cars to travel between sites with equipment that
is simply too cumbersome to take on public transport.
Jason from Anderson Wilde and Harris says, “It is a headache and
waste of my time maintaining and running a car. We definitely save a
lot on running costs and parking plus the added bonus of inclusive
congestion charge”.
A typical journey for
the employees of Anderson Wilde and Harris can be anything from a
couple of hours to a full working day but they usually stay within
the free mileage of 30 miles. The average spend for the
company on a monthly basis is £300 - a considerable saving on the
commitment of running pool or fleet vehicles.
David
Turin owns a small fine arts company in central
London
with his wife and is a frequent user of a car club for the school
run and short trips in and around the city.
David uses the cars around
three to four times a week and loves the way that joining a car club
works hand in hand with his decision to lead a ‘green’
lifestyle. David moved from L.A to
London
a few years ago and maintained his reliance on public transport but
inevitably found that there are those journeys that you unavoidably
need a car.
David says, “I love car
clubs because of the manner in which membership can address the
problem of car ownership; both for the individual and for the
environment. For me, signing up has solved all my transport
problems whilst staying in line with my strong views on the need to
cut carbon emissions. There really is an enormous ‘ease
factor’ to the service and I would recommend it to anyone.”
Andrea
Lang has a family of five, three children and her partner who works
in investment banking.
Andrea and her partner had
decided that they did not want to own a car but this became
problematic with young children. Andrea chose to join a car club as
they offered her the freedom to use a car without owning one, plus
the added bonus of helping to reduce her family’s overall carbon
emissions. Andrea estimates that she uses a car club car four to
five times a month.
Ranica
Barua runs her own business selling bespoke blinds and uses a car
club for both work purposes and her personal use.
Access to a car is
essential for Ranica’s small business. However the cost and
hassle of owning a car eats into her profits and time. Ranica chose
to join a car club because membership offered a less expensive
alternative to owning a car with all the accessibility of owning a
car. The choice of different cars means that Ranica can also have a
different car for work and personal use.
