Regular passengers on the Ross Action Bus took time out from their shopping trip to a local supermarket in Ross-on-Wye to tell the Ross Gazette just what makes the charity so special.

Enid Wiliams has been taking part in the shopping trips and the luncheon club for nearly seven years. She said:?“I have made a whole new group of friends. Dorothy Smith added:?“I have been using the bus for a long time too and I would really miss it, not just for the help with my shopping, but for the company.”

Many of the ladies spoke warmly of their gratitude to the volunteer drivers and companions. They said that not only do they collect them in the bus to go shopping, they often help them with carrying or reading the labels.

Barbara Letchford has been using the bus for three years and is particularly grateful for the companionship and help. She is partially sighted and lives in an upstairs flat. She said that the bus and the volunteers are a great help, and they enable her to get out.

Margaret Thomas knew about the bus long before she became a passenger, she told the Ross Gazette that her husband, Ivor was a volunteer driver for several years. He is remembered fondly by President of the Ross Action Committee, Rosemary Rigby, who described him as a very happy driver. Mrs Thomas added that she had never expected to be sitting on the bus but she found it so helpful.

Mis Rigby added that the bus is in action nearly every day of the week. She said there are two Shopping Clubs, on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, the Luncheon Club and regular Sunday runs. Last week they visited the garden centre at Newent.

Pat Dedross was pursuaded to use the bus by her cardiac rehabilittion team after she had a heart attack in 2012. They convinced me that I needed to do something to get out and I started going to the lunch club. Pat said:?“I am very glad that they talked me into it, it has been really lovely.”

Pat pursuaded a friend, Mary Jackson to join her and she has become a regular too. She said:?“it is the volunteers who make it so special, they are so very good.”

Shirley Davies who has been using the bus for the past couple of years added:?“It is a life saver for many people and if it were not for the volunteers I dont know what we would do.”

With people living longer, and living alone, there has never been a greater need for the services the Action Bus offers – a means of getting out and about for those who would otherwise spend many hours alone in their homes.

The Ross Gazette has reported about the Action Bus many times, ever since the first proposal for the scheme was made, and the various buses that have been purchased. it’s the Gazette’s Charity of the Year 2017 and it is a charity very dear to the hearts of many people who live in the Ross area.

One lady, who made a donation to the Ross Action Committee at the Christmas Fayre, told the Gazette that she could remember taking part on one of the first fundrasing events- a sponsored walk with everyone taking part wearing hot pants. She said she is now a volunteeer with the bus and may, in the future, become a passenger. This long link with Ross, and so many residents, was just one of the reasons why the bus was chosen as our Charity of the Year.

If you would like to support the Ross Action Bus you can visit our office at 54A Broad Street, to make a donation to the campaign, any cheques need to be made payable to Ross Action Committee.