In 2001 we trained the Dial-a-Bus shopping service driver, Bill Michie, as a MiDAS DAT. Since then Bill has trained all of our volunteer drivers in MiDAS and after a further training course in Minibus Emergency Evacuation Procedures in 2002 he followed this with regular MEEP courses.

In 2003 we added to our fledgling training department a PATS (Passenger Assistant Training Scheme) Trainer; volunteer director Norma Thomson. In 2004 Norma added PATS emergency 1st aid training to her repetoire

In 2005 Alan Brown joined Bill and Norma on the training team. Alan is qualified as a MiDAS DAT and a MiDAS for Cars Driver Observer. We are very grateful to Grampiam Police who give us Alan's time as their help in kind contribution to Buchan Dial-a-Community Bus

Although our remit at the beginning was to train our own staff and volunteers and perhaps a few outside agencies, there has been an upsurge in demand, originally for MiDAS and PATS and now MiDAS for Cars.
Groups such as Cornerstone and Mental Health are making MiDAS a core programme in their training programmes and Aberdeenshire Council’s Education, Housing and Social Work Departments are training all relevant staff in PATS

Currently Dial-a-Community Bus volunteers can access all training programmes free of charge while outside organisations / individuals will pay £70 for MiDAS and MiDAS for Cars, £40 for PATS and PATS emergency 1st aid, and £20 for MEEP training. We are aware that other organisations may be charging more for their training but we also understand the budget limitations of local small groups and would prefer to offer good quality cost efficient training so that as many people as possible are qualified to drive / escort.

We also work in partnership with Grampian Police's Road Casualty Reduction Unit who provide presentations on a variety of topics for our drivers.

The staff and volunteers are also offered a variety of other training courses and are encouraged to discuss any training requirements with the co-ordinator.