Charity’s car rental scheme claims to give major return on investment

A new report by a car rental scheme run by Vantastic, which provides transport services for people with mobility difficulties, claims to be making money for its investors. Using Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis, the independently verified report says that for every €1 invested, €2.40 was created in return.

The report has been launched by Minister for Rural and Community Development Michael Ring, who welcomed news that four more vehicles were being added to the rental fleet.

Vantastic’s car rental scheme offers transport to wheelchair users and other people with mobility problems. According to the report, 15 members will use each rental car in a single year. Members rent a car on average four times a year and currently 300 people around the country are signed up as members .

According to the report, 74 per cent of members of the car rental scheme reported a reduction in social exclusion, 55 per cent felt less stress and anxiety and 42 per cent enjoyed an improved sense of independence.

‘Groundbreaking’

Ring congratulated the Vantastic team on their success: “This report is groundbreaking in that it puts a real financial value on the car rental scheme and should be seen as an example in the sector. I’m delighted to be able to support Vantastic in their efforts through funding provided by my department through the Dormant Accounts Fund and the Community Services Programme.”

Chairperson of Vantastic, and user of the scheme, Niamh Stanford said: “These days, I use it when my kids are on holidays, I can take them away for the weekend, it means that if my partner is in work I can still be totally independent and it shows my kids a positive as well, because they see that Mammy can do it.”

Vantastic put together a special project advisory group for the report, including Profs Mary-Lee Rhodes and Sheila Cannon from Trinity College’s Centre for Social Innovation.

Prof Cannon said: “The value of this report goes beyond Vantastic and its stakeholders. Organisations like these are chronically undervalued, partly because of the difficulty in measuring their impact. This SROI evaluation responds to that gap by providing a detailed analysis of how to rigorously identify, measure, quantify and document the social value of non-profit activity”.