Founded in 2003 as a charitable trust, the volunteer-run service provides low-cost, supported shopping trips for older people, those with mobility issues, or who are recovering from injury or surgery. At present, the Plus Bus service runs two trips each week.
Recently, The Star met the Tuesday morning group — a cheerful bunch of older women, who had been collected from their homes across the city by volunteer driver Neil Redmond and volunteer assistant Ruth Arnison, and taken to Mornington to do their shopping.
Ms Arnison said the regular Tuesday shoppers, Helen Ross, Kathleen Bradfield, Betty McKie, Nancy Gillies, and Audrey [surname withheld] were a "delightful bunch", who had enjoyed their regular bus trips and shopping outings for up to 10 years.
"We all have a great chat on the bus, and the ladies swap stories and recipes — it’s a very social outing for them," Ms Arnison said.
The women agreed, saying they looked forward to getting together each week for some "fun and shopping".
"We have gotten to know each other well over the years, so there is always something to talk about," Mrs Bradfield said.
"It’s a really nice social outing for us, we all look forward to it, and we have each other on quite a bit."
"Our volunteer driver Neil is brilliant and so is Ruth — they are very helpful," Mrs Gillies said.
"They will help out with shopping if we need it, and will help us to take our groceries into the house when we get home."
That helpfulness extends to days when someone is unable to go shopping, when the Plus Bus team will collect shopping bags and a list, sort out buying the groceries and deliver them back to their homes.
Plus Bus administrator Jennie Archer said the service was going well, and had capacity for more clients to access it.
"We would be delighted to welcome new customers to our bus," she said.
• To find out more, or to sign up for the Plus Bus, phone 455-4050.
