Merseytravel: Travel Passes (2006)

I was contacted by Paulette Lappin at Merseytravel in 2005. Paulette had seen some of my work with the Somali communities in Liverpool and told me that Merseytravel would like to produce a public information video in four languages, Arabic, Chinese, English and Somali.

All four versions were also distributed on YouTube

I contacted friends in the various communities and explained what Merseytravel wanted, which was to inform elders in the various communities of their rights to free travel passes and how to obtain them. We set about filming and editing and finished the projects in 2006.

The commission was ideal for me, supplying a series of much needed public information videos within my home city.

For those who may be interested, below is an extract from Merseytravel’s website about the project.

“Merseytravel reached out to Merseyside`s diverse black and ethnic minority communities by making these four videos in a bid to make travelling by public transport easier.

A DVD simply called “Travel Passes”, and focusing solely on Merseyside, has been created to give black and ethnic community groups easily accessible and understandable information about public transport and concessionary fares.

The simple seven-minute videos are available in four common languages; Arabic, English, Somali and Chinese.

The DVD will be taken directly into the heart of the communities.

Councillor Mark Dowd, Chair of Merseytravel, said: “We want to make sure everyone is included and has the chance to use the public transport network. Everyone means everyone.

“This DVD has taken a lot of hard work from many people within the communities. It is a fantastic project and should help hundreds of people every year.”

Neil Scales, Chief Executive and Director General of Merseytravel added: “This DVD is a fantastic example of partnerships in action, we have reached out to the communities and the support we`ve had has been excellent.

“We want a public transport network in Merseyside that is accessible to everyone and this DVD will support our work and give access to people in communities that may otherwise be losing out.”

The DVD, first mooted during 2003, the European Year of Disabled People, is fully funded by Merseytravel and stars people from Merseyside`s black and ethnic minority communities - some with disabilities.

Research carried out by Merseytravel`s Community Links Access team and the Liverpool Voluntary Society for the Blind showed that hundreds of people from the Somali, Chinese and Arabic communities were unaware they were entitled to concessionary passes either because of a disability or as senior citizens.

In total, only 54% of the eligible population claim their concessionary passes.

The research highlighted a number of barriers preventing people within the communities accessing public transport, including language, accessible information and confidence to use the network.

In developing the DVD, Merseytravel`s Community Links Access Team and Age Concern, with the support of an elders group from the black and ethnic minority community, discussed the issues facing them at a specially convened event.

The Community Links team also went out and met voluntary organisations across Merseyside to ask how best to address the problem.

The organisations supporting the project include the Liverpool Voluntary Society for the Blind, Age Concern Liverpool and the documentaries and DVD were produced by Joseph Cooper.

This DVD will be distributed across Merseyside using community empowerment networks.”

^{Joseph Cooper}