The waiting is over. The new minibus for Mearns Minibus Link arrived in Laurencekirk on Friday 20th November.

Having been ordered during the last few days of February, it was hoped that the minibus would be delivered in June. It was not to be. For reasons that we all fully understand, we are living in a world that none of us could have envisaged. Even to the very end the actual delivery was delayed. We were advised that the minibus could arrive by the end of October, but it was not to be. A severe backlog in issuing new registration numbers at DVLA in Swansea delayed the registration process and hence the delivery of the minibus to Laurencekirk.

Having received the vehicle, and seen the actual colour, we are now in the process of getting signs designed for the minibus, so that it will be recognisable whilst travelling around the Mearns.

We are now planning for getting it into service and hope to have work for it soon. Amongst the activities we are organising includes a MIDAS training course for new volunteer drivers. We are also hoping to assist in the transport of patients to appointments in conjunction with Mearns and Coastal Healthy Living Network and the Mearns Health Centre. With the predicted mass vaccination for everyone in the near future we hope that we can help in some way to ensure the operation is carried out safely.

Allan Smith, Mearns MInibus Link