About GCT

Galloway Community Transport was formed in 2001 as the Glenkens Transport Initiative, a Glenkens Community and Arts project. It was constituted as a SCIO in 2017 and re-named in 2019 to Galloway Community Transport, reflecting its widening geographical area of operation.

GCT’s charitable purposes are:

• The advancement of citizenship and community development (including rural or urban regeneration).
• The relief of people in need because of age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship, rural isolation, or other disadvantage.

Governance

GCT is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Glenkens Community and Arts Trust (GCAT). The relationship between GCT and GCAT is defined by a written Terms of Reference. Oversight of GCT operations and strategy is provided by the voluntary GCT Sub-committee, but the GCAT Board retains overall responsibility for governance.  

A summary of the relationship:

• GCAT’s Board is the Board of GCT.
• The Board of GCAT delegates authority to a defined degree to the GCT sub-committee.
• GCT’s Accounts are consolidated into GCAT’s Accounts.
• The GCAT AGM serves as the GCT AGM.
• GCAT’s non-technical policies cover GCT staff and operations.
• GCT maintains its own suite of technical policies.
• GCT staff are GCAT employees.

Our annual reports are published yearly to the OSCR (Scottish Charity Register) website, click here to view

Community transport provides flexible and accessible community-led solutions in response to unmet local transport needs. It often represents the only means of transport for many vulnerable and isolated people, often older people or people with disabilities.

GCT has a long history of delivering on these purposes and outcomes, firstly serving the transport needs of the people of the Glenkens, then enlarging its geographical spread to the whole of the Stewartry and beyond. Developing relationships with partner organisations has taken GCT into school transport, NHS patient transport and created openings with other Community Transport Operators. However, the core desire to mitigate rural disadvantage by serving its membership organisations, offering registered route transport and offering excursions to the public has not changed.

GCT is committed to continual improvement in our environmental performance. We have a commitment to decarbonising our fleet and will do so at a rate set by the available charging infrastructure, suitability of available vehicles for our rural services, and capital grant allowances.  

We lobby regionally for improved charging infrastructure so that this does not become the rate-limiting step in this process.  

You may notice from the website photos that we are in the middle of a rebrand! As a prudent use of our public and private funding, our vehicles will be updated with the new GCT logo as and when the existing decals require replacing.