Christchurch Dial-a-Bus relaunched

The Christchurch Dial-a-Bus service has been given a relaunch to residents of the Borough at a ceremony held at Bure House, an extra care housing scheme in Christchurch.

The chairman of the Friends of Dial-a-Bus, Cllr Josephine Spencer, was

joined by the Mayor and Mayoress of Christchurch Cllr Nick Geary and Gillian Geary at Bure House for the event which celebrates five years of the service.

Dial-a-Bus operates a wheelchair-accessible service from their homes for disabled or older people who find it difficult to use public transport.

The service runs on Tuesdays from West Christchurch and on Thurdays from East Christchurch using a bus supplied by Dorset County Council. On Thursdays there is also a service from Mudeford and Highcliffe to Sainsbury’s and on Fridays from Highcliffe and Burton to Sainsbury’s using a Nordcat bus.

Each return journey costs £3.00 but there is also a 5-4-4 scheme whereby people buying four tickets get the fifth one for free.

In addition, special excursions are operated every Wednesday to a range of destinations such as Exbury Gardens, Swanage, Fordingbridge, Lymington and many other places. These excursions are priced depending on the length of journey, usually between £6 and £8.

Cllr Spencer said: “The Dial-a-Bus service started five years ago and has grown considerably since then to the point that we now have 225 registered users. But we find that there are still a number of potential users in the Borough who are not aware of the service, including people from Bure House and other such schemes in the area, which is why we are relaunching it now.

“I would like to thank all of the Friends of Dial-a-Bus who do a wonderful job raising funds to keep the service going.”

Pupils from Christchurch Junior School had been invited to provide some entertainment during the relaunch ceremony and the young dancers and the samba band proved very popular with the residents of the housing scheme.