‘We spend £9k a year on petrol driving our daughter around'

Times

29-07-2025

When Jo Mitchelhill and her husband, Graham, chose a private school in Canterbury for their daughter Jessica, 11, the cost of getting to school didn't cross their minds. Yet the decision would end up costing them more than £9,000 a year.The Mitchelhills, from Sittingbourne, Kent, picked a school in Canterbury, 22 miles away, committing to seven years of 44-mile commutes, twice a day, five days a week. They also drive their daughter to clubs and competitions, meaning that their 'mum and dad taxi service' could rack up as much as 800 miles a week.
It's a story many can relate to. Parents spend an average of 176 hours a year driving their children round, adding up to an astonishing 3,000 miles, according to Motorway, an online car marketplace.
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The government's advisory fuel rates, which it provides for employees using company cars, suggest that the average cost of petrol is between 12p and 22p a mile and diesel between 11p and 17p a mile. So ferrying children to school and back, and to clubs and activities, can make a significant dent in household budgets.
We look at the real cost to parents of providing a taxi service for their children.
Jo Mitchelhill, 49, a parenting coach, and Graham, 58, a mortgage broker, struggled to find a school close to home which they felt was suitable for their daughter. 'The local schools didn't seem like a good fit — the grammar was too academic, and we wanted her to have equal focus on sport and art. But the comprehensive was enormous and we were worried she'd be lost in a year group of 300.'
But with the new school 22 miles away, they quickly realised they had to take on a long daily commute. 'As we're both self-employed, we have flexibility over who does the school run, so we're lucky in that way,' Jo said.
The Mitchelhills rack up 440 miles a week on the school run alone. But this isn't the end of the story. 'Jessica also does sport outside school. Netball is just six miles away once a week, but matches, which happen weekly, could be 20 miles away.
'She also plays hockey, which is 12 miles away when it's held at the local club, or 26 miles when it's held at Herne Bay, which happens a couple of times a month.' They go there and back twice, which can add 104 miles to the weekly total.
Jessica also does pony club every week, which is a 20-mile round trip, and she sometimes takes part in competitions that can be up to 100 miles away.
That could mean a weekly total of more than 800 miles, which would cost about £176, according to the government's figures. So, it's no surprise that the Mitchelhills noticed their petrol bill rocketing. 'When Graham told me our petrol was sometimes costing £250 a week, including our own work mileage, which can vary each week as we're both self-employed, we knew we had to make a change,' Jo said.
They have now leased an electric car which has reduced their monthly cost to as little as £30.
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Leanne Webster, from Perth and Kinross, also spends a large part of her time — and money — ferrying her four children, Jessica, 15, John, 14, Sophie, 11, and Daniel, 10, around.
Webster, 43, who works as a maternal wellness mentor, makes a seven-mile drive to collect her daughter, Jessica, from school about twice a week. 'She has a medical condition and sometimes needs to come home.'
Jessica also studies some of her subjects in Perth, about 40 miles away, and needs to be taken there twice a week.
But it's the children's social lives that can turn a relatively modest commute into a big bill for Leanne. 'Jessica goes out about two or three times a week. Each time I'll drop her off and collect her from a friend's house; I drive about 15-20 miles,' Webster said.
John also meets his friends in Aberfeldy about twice a week, which is another ten miles each way for Leanne. Sophie has an active social life, going on playdates almost every day of the week. Each friend lives 5-10 miles away and Webster usually drives both ways.
Clubs also mean more taxi trips for Leanne. John is on the local football team, which trains twice a week, plus weekend matches can be up to 80 miles away.
'John also has Explorer Scouts twice a month, that's 21 miles away. And he goes swimming once a week at the local pool — a 14-mile round trip.
'Sophie also has scouts once a week in Aberfeldy. Daniel's friends are all local, although he, too, goes swimming once a week.'
On weeks when John has an away game, Leanne could be covering about 750 miles. And even on quieter weeks, she does about 560 miles.
In her diesel car, this could be setting her back about £128 a week and Leanne budgets up to £600 a month to cover fuel. 'I'm a single mum, self-employed and the only adult in the household, so I fit my business and my wants around the children's activities.'
Carpooling or sharing lifts can help to cut costs. Using public transport or encouraging children to walk or cycle where possible can also cut bills, but these options aren't always available, or suitable for everyone.
If savings cannot easily be made, it's important to remember that these hectic years won't last forever. 'Jessica won't be at her school for more than seven years,' Jo said. 'So while we're having to sacrifice big family holidays and a second car to afford the fees and transport, we see it as a worthwhile investment.'