Keeping people connected
21 Aug 2018
Sue Shearer takes delivery of the new COTA shuttle bus
COTA NT took possession of a new shuttle bus – courtesy of the NT Government’s Community Benefit Fund major grants – last week. We are delighted with this outcome as it gives COTA staff and volunteers the opportunity to be out ‘across the NT’ meeting with, listening to and speaking with seniors in many communities.
The older bus will now be in service in Coomalie and Berry Springs to assist seniors with much-needed transport to Coolalinga and other destinations. The bus can help provide transport for seniors who cannot catch a normal bus or afford a taxi. We recently met a 92-year-old gentleman and found he was living in isolation and desperate for company. This is where COTA’s shuttle buses and their volunteer drivers can help, as do our other programmes in connecting people and providing them with much needed company.
The gentleman was also very concerned with the proposed increase in Territory Housing rents. We have received visits from other tenants sharing his concern, so we will be lobbying on their behalf for the increases to be minimal. Whilst we appreciate repairs and maintenance work must be done, a lot of these buildings have not had any ongoing maintenance for some time. Territory Housing appears to be playing catch up and passing the costs on. While we believe that “user pays”, in this case the end users have not – or may not be able to – budget for this increase if on fixed incomes.
Tomorrow our Seniors Month movie, “BookClub” is being screened courtesy of BCC for over 200 seniors attending for a movie and morning tea. Our partnership with BCC is much valued with BCC also offering COTA NT members free passes for upcoming movies. The session is completely booked out and we look forward to seeing you all there. (Another COTA NT Seniors Month event, the Seniors in the 21st Century forum is also booked out).
Tags: Seniors Voice
