Avenel Active and Seymour Coaches commemorated four years of delivering ‘Get Me to the Shops!’ to the local community.
‘Get Me to the Shops!’ is a volunteer-run service for locals travelling between Avenel and Seymour.
For their support in providing low-cost bus hire for the service, Seymour Coaches were presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from Avenel Active.
Avenel Active volunteer Jim Billings expressed his gratitude for the generosity of Seymour Coaches.
“We started the service after identifying the need for community transport, especially for residents who cannot drive,” Mr Billings said.
“There are very few train services each day from Avenel, and no public bus services at all.
“We are very grateful to Seymour Coaches, their generous support has helped sustain the program and given us confidence that our volunteers and passengers are travelling in safety.”
General Manager Stuart Locke said Seymour Coaches is happy to help out with this essential community service.
“Seymour Coaches isn’t only a commercial transport company,” Mr Locke said.
“It’s important to us to support not-for-profit and community transport like ‘Get Me to the Shops!’ so that people in our region can get to the services and activities they need.”
The ‘Get Me to the Shops!’ community bus runs every Thursday morning, taking passengers from Avenel to the Seymour shopping centre at about 9.15am and returning them to Avenel by noon.
“We provide a door-to-door service,” Mr Billings said.
“We collect passengers from their homes, help with their shopping in Seymour if needed, and drop everyone back to their homes.”
Volunteer driver John Thomson said the service also provides an opportunity for those using it to mingle and have a chat.
“The service is open to all Avenel residents and the return trip only costs $5,” Mr Thomson said.
“We meet at the coffee shop in Seymour each week before returning to Avenel, so it’s a great opportunity to catch up with neighbours as well as doing some shopping or other errands.”
The service is also supported by the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, and with the aid of Seymour Coaches, has received funding from the Victorian Government’s Flexible Local Transport Solutions Program.
“We would like to thank our passengers, volunteers, Avenel Active, and all of our sponsors for their support over the last four years,” Mr Billings said.
“We look forward to continuing to get Avenel residents to the shops.”
For enquiries and bookings, contact John Thomson on 0439 269 799 or Jim Billings on 0433 270 101.
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