Lossie families benefit from free bus travel

A local bus operator has stepped in to provide free bus travel for families in Lossiemouth who are under financial strain.

Lossiemouth based charity, The Lossie 2-3 Group, have been working with Moray Food Plus to provide critical support to families in need. Children who would usually receive free school meals have instead been issued with a supermarket voucher while schools remain closed. For some families in Lossiemouth the additional cost of bus travel to get to the supermarkets where these vouchers can be redeemed was preventing them from being able to use the support.

The Lossie 2-3 Group reached out to Stagecoach, who operate bus service 33 connecting Lossiemouth with Elgin to see if they could support these families. As a result, Stagecoach has provided free day tickets for these families to use during the pandemic. The free tickets will be distributed by the Lossie 2-3 Group.

Louise McBride at The Lossie 2-3 Group said: “We were aware of the financial strain on some families when redeeming their supermarket vouchers so we contacted Stagecoach to see if we could work together to support these people. We were delighted with the response and we’ve already started to distribute the free travel to those who need the support along with their supermarket voucher. It is really rewarding to see the relief this is bringing to those in our community.”

Peter Knight, Managing Director for Stagecoach Bluebird said: “We have been delighted to support the work of The Lossie 2-3 Group with free bus travel for families in Lossiemouth. We hope that this donation will go some way to ease the worries these families may have had in keeping stocked up on essentials. ”

Stagecoach buses continue to operate in the area to a reduced timetable providing connections for key workers and essential trips in line with travel advice from the government.