About Moray Carshare

Moray Carshare is a community-based car club. There are currently almost 200 members of the club, and we share 17 cars and 2 electric bicycles amongst us. The cars are placed at 9 different locations in and around Forres, Findhorn and Kinloss in the IV36 post code area of Morayshire in the north-east of Scotland. The car club is a registered charity (SC047744) run as a "holistic enterprise", and governed using a methodology called Sociocracy. Anyone living in the local area with an appropriate driving license is eligible to join.

Our primary aims are:

1. Quality of Life & Social Inclusion - to provide affordable and convenient access to motorised vehciles: we aim to save members money and to make the convenience of using a car available to those who might not be able to afford a car of their own.
2. Caring for the Environment - to encourage the use of transport options with the lowest environmental impact:
   • by only using very low emissions vehicles
   • by charging for every journey in our cars we encourage members to consider other transport options, e.g. walking, cycling, public transport and lift-sharing.
3. Community Learning - members learn how to  share resources in a spirit of cooperation for the benefit of all.

Other benefits include:

• variety of vehicles: members can pick the car that is most suitable for the trip in question – currently we have 2 electric cars, 8 small (fuel efficient) cars, 4 family-sized cars, two of which are hybrid, 2 MPVs with a tow hitch plus an electric bicycle, a trailer and a camper van kit.
• the creation of community jobs (1 full-time and 3 part-time staff);
• reduce the number of cars in our local comm­unity, and thereby reduce the pressure on parking spaces and create a safer, more beautiful living environment.

We were founded in October 2007 with 15 members and 3 cars. We were inspired by the Woodhead Community carpool. All financial surplus is reinvested in the car club. Over the last 4 years we have received government funding from Transport Scotland's Developing Car Clubs Scotland programme to upgrade our fleet to more environmentally friendly cars, including 2 electric cars. Community car clubs are an ideal way to introduce electric cars, as they can be used for shorter journeys, while petrol or diesel cars can still be used for longer journeys. Our charge point for the electric vehciles was funded by the Scottish Energy Saving Trust.

In September 2017 we were granted charitable status as a Scottish Charitable Incorprated Organisation (SCIO). In June 2018 we were awarded a £136,000 grant by Moray LEADER and a £15,000 grany by HiTrans in order to expand our operations into Elgin and Aberlour, with an emphasis on using electric cars and electric bikes.

Our constitution, operational agreement and tariffs can be found here. These create clear rules and boundaries that help create a sense of trust.

Our trustees are:

• Bea Jefferson
• David Hammond
• Duncan Easter
• Gordon McAlpine
• Jake Jay-Lewin
• Jan Nowell
• Mark Anderson
• Patricia O'Shea.