March 17, 2006 This news release issued by Dial-a-Community Bus

Buchan Dial-a-Community Bus today received a donation from the Atlantic & Cromarty project team at ExxonMobil’s St Fergus terminal.

Dial-a-Community Bus is a community transport charity based in Buchan. It provides affordable, accessible transport for those people who cannot access conventional transport due to age, disability, rural or social isolation. The charity offers several different services for a wide variety of different people, using both minibus and cars, run by both staff and volunteers.

Dial-a-Community Bus co-ordinator, Mrs Rachel Milne, was overjoyed at the unexpected donation: “As part of a safety incentive scheme, ExxonMobil staff are periodically asked to nominate local charities to receive a donation in recognition of safety performance. This time the Atlantic & Cromarty safety committee kindly thought about Dial-a-Community Bus which is an unexpected but wonderful surprise for us."

She explained a little about how the money will be used: “Safety is of paramount importance to Dial-a-Community Bus and is something we take extremely seriously for the sake of our clients, volunteers and staff. We try to offer a wide variety of training programmes for all our volunteers and staff, but we are a charity and every penny has to be accounted for.

"This is especially true this year since we will probably need to replace one of our older minibuses, which will cost a great deal of money - a good bit of which we will have to raise ourselves.

“This spring we wanted to offer a Driver Training evening for all volunteers and staff, but this is an 'extra' for Dial-a-Community Bus and even the relatively small amount of money required can be difficult to find from our budget. This is why I was so pleased to get the news about this contribution from ExxonMobil."

She went on to praise the generosity of the ExxonMobil staff: “I am thrilled that ExxonMobil has facilitated this training event through their wonderful donation. To my mind it is a first class example of the benefits that occur when local businesses work together in partnership for the good of the community. It will certainly help maintain the unblemished driver safety record that Dial-a-Community Bus has to date.”

ExxonMobil project manager, Russel Davies, said: “Buchan Dial-a-Community Bus makes a real difference to so many individuals in the area. We are pleased to be able to help and it is particularly appropriate that our donation will be used to support safety training for volunteer drivers.”

The Driver Training Event will be held in May and will incorporate a presentation from Grampian Fire and Rescue.

Myles Murray, of Grampian Fire and Rescue, commented: “I am delighted that we have been given the opportunity to work with Dial-a-Community Bus to enhance their driver safety programme.”

Myles explained that, as part of the Spring training evening, Grampian Fire and Rescue will be giving a presentation on the consequences of a road traffic collision. This complements previous presentations that Grampian Police’s Road Casualty Reduction Unit has given to Dial-a-Community Bus staff and volunteers on driving safely in order to prevent a collision.

Myles commented: “The presentation is very visual and focuses on the way that people are trapped in a vehicle, times of entrapment, how the Fire and Rescue Service extricate victims, injuries that are sustained and the relevant medical issues faced.”

Rachel added: “This answers the “what if?” questions most drivers have. We have worked closely with Grampian Police over the last year to encourage people to think about how to avoid a collision and this presentation will show what happens if they do. I am very grateful to Grampian Fire and Rescue for offering their services to our project.”