A letter from an elderly woman concerned about changes to a bus route in Chichester has led to the launch of a community bus service.
With the help of funding from Chichester City Council, Community Transport Sussex has started to run the service every Wednesday from care homes and retirement homes in Stockbridge Road to the Marks & Spencer car park and back.
District councillor Sarah Sharp (Green & Local Alliance Group, Chichester South) received the letter after the routes for Stagecoach services 52 and 53 were shortened, so they no longer stopped at the Cathedral, in the city centre.
The change meant that elderly people wanting to get into the heart of the city from Stockbridge Road had to either change at, or walk from, the bus station – with the return trip made even more difficult if they were carrying shopping.
As Mrs Sharp pointed out, while this may be little more than a stroll for an able-bodied person, for people in their 80s and 90s, it’s not so easy.
Suzy Downes, of Community Transport Sussex, said the launch of the new service did not just attract people who had been catching the 52/53. It also opened things up to those who use walkers or wheelchairs and may have been isolated because they were simply unable to cross Stockbridge Road to catch the bus.
One resident of Lacy House was delighted with the minibus service. She said she missed being able to do simple things such as browsing bookshops, going to the bank and having lunch out, and felt the service would ‘enhance life’.
Another said: “I never get the chance to go out but today I bought two jumpers. I can try them on at home and return them next week if they’re no good because of this bus.”
The minibus can take wheelchairs and walkers and leaves Byron Court, Heather Court and Lacy House, in Stockbridge Road, at 1pm every Wednesday, picking passengers up again from the Marks & Spencer car park at around 3pm. The fare is £3 for a return journey.
Mrs Sharp stressed that the service wasn’t a replacement for the 52/53 but did wonder if similar services could be replicated in other areas.
She said there was a ‘defined need’ for the service due to the change to the Stagecoach route – but also ‘a much deeper need’ regarding safety and isolation.
Describing the first time the bus was used, she said: “We were all like little children on a day out. It was just like taking a group of kids on a school outing. And all it was was the Marks & Spencer car park.
“One lady was like ‘I had a list of things to do and I did them all’.
“It was that sense of ‘this is not just transport, this is liberation’. This is freedom, this is fun, this is taking part in normal, every day life that we all take for granted.”
The service has been funded for 33 weeks up until September, with a review in June.
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