"Brecon and District disABLEd Club was the brainchild of three disabled Brecon men.

In the late summer of 1977, Keith Morris, John Hutchinson and Malcolm Morris called a public meeting at the Arosfa Day Centre of local disabled people and representatives of Voluntary Organisations in the area.

This inaugural meeting, chaired jointly, as it was, by Carwyn Roderick M.P. and Councillor Eifion Lewis, was successful and boded well for the future. Approximately 50 people attended, all of whom proved to be interested and looked forward to the next meeting of the club.

It had been decided at the forgoing meeting that all future meetings would be held at Arosfa on a fortnightly basis. Powys Social Services, however had other opinions and were only willing for B.A.D.C to meet on a monthly basis.

Their opposition was quickly stifled by the M.P. At the first meeting the club elected Keith Morris as chairman, John Hutchinson as treasurer and Malcolm Morris as secretary.

The members were keen to have Aneurin Rees, former headmaster of Brecon Boys Grammar School, as its President.

There are only a few original club members still alive but it is thanks to their pioneering work on behalf of the disabled community that we now enjoy a Dial-a-Ride service and many of the wheelchair friendly shops in Brecon.

The Club also informed the local authorities of the difficulties encountered by disabled people and improvements were made as a result; unisex toilets, ramped openings, parking facilities, swimming pool access and ongoing surveillance of planning applications.

A Mobile holiday home project started in 1979 and by 1982 a caravan was on site at New Minerton Caravan Park near Tenby, the final payment for the caravan was made in December 1981. Unfortunately, the caravan was under utilised and eventually became a millstone around the neck of B.A.D.AC. who in the mid 1980's quietly disposed of it.

One of the first activities undertaken by B.A.D.A.C was the collation of a Brecon guide for the disabled. This booklet was inspired by the late Keith Morris, who contacted countless businesses and local bodies to get the necessary information.

The guide was launched in May 1978 at the Castle of Brecon Hotel and proved an invaluable tool for the disabled tourists and local residents until it was superseded many years later. It was presented with the Silver Jubilee Award for this work.

B.A.D.A.C. went from strength to strength in those early years. It was at this time, that the idea of bringing in Dial-a-Ride service to Brecon germinated. That it did not reach fruition however, until 1984 was due, of course, to external pressure and lack of finance. But the club became quite a well-known body in the area with its frequent jumble sales and coffee evenings.

Dial-a-Ride became a viable proposition, with the introduction of the Helping Hand Scheme in the early 1980's. (The latter was a government-funded organisation which was intended to assist the elderly and disabled in their homes.)K

So in January 1985 the Dial-a-Ride club became part of the Brecon and District disABLEd Club (BADAC).

People from this organisation were the first administrators and drivers of the Dial-a-Ride system.

Membership of BADAC was £3 and from September 1985 all members of the Dial-a Ride club had to become members of BADAC. B.A.D.A.C. purchased the first Dodge bus in 1984. Nowadays this would seem an antiquated vehicle!

By this time attendance at B.A.D.A.C. meetings had gradually decreased and the Dial-a-Ride scheme became a 'tail shaking a dog' as it were.

The effort in keeping the meetings going became too much for its organisers and as a result were abolished over a period of time. Eventually things like the annual church service, the Christmas party and seaside summer trip, were quietly shelved.

Nowadays the 'Dial-a-Ride is the sole legacy of the club. The organisation is run by a management committee, which holds Annual General Meetings to which all members are invited to attend.

Members are invited to become committee members and their input is essential to the running of the Club. BADAC is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee.

In October 1985 Help The Aged became involved by donating £2,800 towards a new bus. It arrived in January 1986 followed by bus number 3 in October 1986. This started a relationship between BADAC and Help The Aged, which continues to this day.

In 1987 one more minibus was purchased in order to set up a service in Crickhowell. This was an 8-seater minibus with a portable ramp. It was mainly funded by Help the Aged with only £1000 needed to be paid by BADAC. The Crickhowell service has always been run entirely by volunteers.

The Brecon Helping Hand project with Powys Jobs ended in August 1985 but the Manpower Services Commission continued to support the project on a yearly basis.

Then in September 1988 the Manpower Services Commission withdrew funding, therefore Brecon Helping Hand ceased to exist. The Dial-a-Ride club administered and operated by the Brecon and District disABLEd Club continued.

As some of the drivers were from the MSC, this left a shortfall and therefore appeals were sent out for volunteer drivers. By 1989 the Club became more dependant on voluntary help and charitable donations, collections and fundraising events increased.

In January 1991 HTV Cymru/Wales Telethon offered BADAC a one off grant of £20,000 to purchase a replacement minibus. The bus arrived in May 1991.

In April 1993 The Care in the Community Act came into force, therefore health and safety training was needed for everyone and this continues to this day. The training consists of first aid, minibus awareness training, manual handling, fire and evacuation etc.

On 1 September 1994 membership fees were increased to £5.00 or £7.50 per couple. These remained the same until September 2006, when it was changed to each person paying £5.00.

BADAC applied to the National Lottery in April 1997 for a grant to fund staff and the running costs of buses. The grant application was successful and ran for three years.

The grant purchased a new bus for the Talgarth area and replaced a bus in Brecon. It also funded a Training and Development Officer to carry out the training needs of the organisation.

Two new buses were purchased in the year 2000. One was purchased through the Club's fundraising activities and the other was purchased through a Welsh Assembly Rural Transport grant with assistance from Help the Aged and British Gas. This bus was used to set up the Dial-a-Ride service in Sennybridge.

The National Lottery grant, which ran out in 2000, was reapplied for and the application was successful.

This enabled the Club to keep the Training and Development Officer for a further three years. An Information and Support Officer was employed and extra administration hours were provided. The lottery grant purchased two new minibuses, one in 2001 and one the year after. In September 2004 a further minibus was purchased with funds from BADAC.

The latest addition to the fleet came in April 2006 in the shape of another Renault Master with considerable help from The Trusthouse Foundation and The Michael Peacock Foundation.

We have a new accessible minibus on order which should be delivered around the end of January 2008, the money for this bus has been raised through a Charity auction held in June, which raised £11,000, together with donations from Charitable foundations and Trusts.

The club runs a fleet of 6 fully accessible minibuses, one covers Talgarth and surrounding area, one covers Crickhowell, one bus covers Sennybridge and 3 buses cover Brecon and surrounding area.

It costs £5 per year to join the Brecon & District disABLEd Club for anyone who has a disability or those over the age of 60. To join call 01874 624060."

Article written by Lisa Marsh