Sally Logan with sheltered housing residents on SOOPIR bus
A community bus service has been set up in Renfrewshire to help tackle social isolation and loneliness in older adults.
Renfrewshire Council’s Health and Wellbeing Coordinator Sally Logan set up the bus service to improve transport links for older people who had difficulty accessing public transport and sometimes felt unable to leave their homes.
Sally applied for the Lens entrepreneurship programme, which supports and funds innovative problem-solving projects brought forward by staff within an organisation and was awarded £10,000 to bring the project to life.
She said: “I’m so excited to have been supported by the Council and the Lens programme to create this bus.
“We organise lots of outings and events for our older tenants but there were some who had difficulty getting on and off the transport that we could book.
“However, this new bus will create a huge opportunity for many people to be able to get out who otherwise could feel isolated or excluded.”
Ann McEwan 89 cutting the ribbon for SOOPIR bus
The SOOPIR bus is part of the Strengthening Opportunities for Older People in Renfrewshire programme and is now ready to be launched. The service will provide transport for the councils sheltered and amenity housing groups such as Forever Young, Cotton Club, Quality Circle and Calm Heights and take them on activities and trips they could not previously attend.
Plans for the bus could be extended in the future to allow other community groups to use the accessible public transport.
Councillor Marie McGurk, Convener of Renfrewshire’s Housing, Planning Policy Board, said: ”Sally has done a fantastic job in bringing her idea for a community bus to fruition and it will make a real difference to the lives of older adults in Renfrewshire.”
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