Bristol suicide prevention charity faces £6k clean air bill

SPB volunteers use a specially modified van to help vulnerable people

A suicide prevention charity said it could be forced to ignore urgent call outs if it has to pay the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) charge.

Suicide Prevention Bristol (SPB) said it faced an annual bill of more than £6,000 for its response vehicles.

A spokesperson said it would be "catastrophic" for the charity unless it was granted an exemption.

Bristol City Council said it had been in contact with SPB "for some time" to discuss possible options.

The CAZ comes into force on 28 November and non-compliant cars and vans that are not entitled to an exemption will be charged £9 a day to enter the city centre.

SPB has now launched a petition on the council's website, first reported by Bristol Live, calling for all charity vehicles and volunteers free access into the CAZ.

Imogen Fox, an SPB volunteer, said the grants available from the council to upgrade their specially modified response vehicles would not be enough to meet their team's requirements.

They told BBC West: "The welfare vehicle is set up to help people who may have already harmed themselves."

'Not feel claustrophobic'

The van has a toilet, kitchen and sink so vulnerable people can be given food and hot drinks, as well as somewhere warm to sit.

"Some of these people might have been in water, they might have been on cliff edges, they might have been outside for hours and hours and hours with hypothermia," Imogen Fox said.

Sometimes services users needed a place where they could be safely contained, especially those under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they added.

"It is better to have a bigger space in order for them not to feel claustrophobic or have lots of people around them in really close proximity."

SPB often works alongside emergency services to help vulnerable people get to safety

The people carrier is often deployed as a first response vehicle, with the van acting as backup.

Both vehicles can be used to take people to A&E or other safe places.

SPB has launched a fundraiser to raise £6,046 - enough to pay the CAZ for both vehicles every day for a year.

Imogen Fox said it could be "catastrophic" if the charity is not given a CAZ exemption.

Plea for help

"There are other emergency services but they are so stretched beyond capacity that often people will wait up to 12 hours for a paramedic to go and get them from somewhere unsafe," they said.

"We are asking to get into the city so we can support people not to end their lives."

They added: "It just seems ludicrous [the council] wouldn't want to support us on that."

A Bristol City Council spokeswoman said: "We have been in contact with SPB for some time, offering advice and discussing their options ahead of Bristol's CAZ launch.

"We have received their financial support application and are awaiting further information from the organisation before we can progress it further.

"We have been working with Bristol charity networks throughout the CAZ planning and preparation process."

The spokeswoman added: "If any charities need support adjusting to the Bristol CAZ, by retrofitting buses or coaches they regularly use, funding is still available."