Macclesfield: Bollington charity launches 'Shuttle to the Shops' bus service
“The inaugural trip proved very popular and everyone had to opportunity to buy lots of bits from their favourite retailers whilst sharing a social experience."
By Alex Greensmith
Posted: Tuesday, 25th July 2023 12:00 am
A charity in Bollington has come up with an innovative mode of transport to help and connect the community.
'Shuttle to the Shops' is a new service run by The Bridgend Centre, one of the local causes supported by the Co-op's Local Community Fund.
The Bridgend Centre, established in 1990 was founded on values of friendship and company.
And their new service encompasses all that, as every fortnight it takes people around local shopping destinations, where they can socialise with others on the bus and have a big day out.
Launched earlier this month, the first trip set off from their Palmerston Street hub to the Barracks Mill Retail Park in Macclesfield, which has Aldi, M&S Food, Home Bargains and Farmfoods.
The bi-weekly event, funded by Cheshire Community Action, has been successful so far.
Other destinations include the Lyme Green Retail Park, which has shops like Next, Matalan, Currys, Pets at Home and Poundstretcher.
There's also a Poynton trip which stops at the Aldi end, then goes to Waitrose. People can walk in between the two during the afternoon.
The Handforth Dean trip has Tesco, M&S and Next and then moves onto Stanley Green which has TK Maxx, B&Q plus more. On each trip people choose which option they go on.
The capacity of the bus is 14. You can pay cash on arrival, or card if you get on at The Bridgend Centre itself.
Rebecca Lea, Centre Manager of The Bridgend Centre said: "The inaugural trip proved very popular and everyone had to opportunity to buy lots of bits from their favourite retailers whilst sharing a social experience with other people on the Rainow Community Bus.
"In future, the service will be every fortnight, visiting different shopping hubs on a rota basis. Next up is on Wednesday 2nd August, to the Handforth Dean and Stanley Green Retail Parks.
"Space on the bus can be slightly limited so it is probably not the trip for folk to get their monthly grocery shop, however it is a great opportunity for people to explore shops that they may not always get a chance to get to independently.
"The return trip is £4. For more information and details on how to register, please contact the Bridgend Centre on 01625 576311 or email [email protected] or drop in to the Centre in person."
A passenger gave this testimonial: "It was such a lovely afternoon out, thank you so much, and David was such a pleasant driver. Looking forward to the next one."
The destinations will be run on a rota basis (listed at the bottom of this page).
This service is available to anyone and costs £4 per trip.
You can catch the bus at the following points every second Wednesday afternoon:
1:30pm Cotton Tree roundabout
1:35pm Bridgend Centre
1:45pm Hawthorn Road
1:50pm Bollington Cross, Princess Drive
Unfortunately, the service is unable to accommodate wheelchairs on the bus at this time.
They can however, accommodate one non-collapsible frame per trip plus two collapsible frames.
However, with more funding, this could become possible in the future. There are two easy ways you can make a donation to the 33-year-old charity.
The first is via their website. The second is by becoming a member of the Co-op Food and downloading their app, as when you buy selected Co-op products, funds are raised for a charity of your choosing.
The Bridgend Centre is one of 12 Macclesfield causes the Co-op will raise money for in 2023. Last year, they raised over £4,000 for The Bridgend Centre, and hope to do the same this year.
Become a Co-op member on this link.
Upcoming 'Shuttle to the Shops' trips are listed below:
Wed 2nd August - Handforth Dean & Stanley Green
Wed 16th August - Macclesfield Lyme Green & Barracks Mill
Wed 30th August - Poynton
Wed 20th September - Handforth Dean & Stanley Green
Wed 27th September - Macclesfield Lyme Green & Barracks Mill Retail Park
See Also: Packed events calendar to celebrate 50th anniversary of Macclesfield charity
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