The Shirley Shuttle Cancer Outpatient Service Central Coast (affectionately known as The Shirley Shuttle) has celebrated 15 years of service to Central Coast residents.
A special event at Community Transport Central Coast HQ at Berkeley Vale on May 5 also saw the donation of two new replacement vehicles.
The service commenced in 2008 when resident Barb Galvin donated $50,000 to buy a vehicle to take transport-challenged cancer outpatients to oncology appointments within the region.
Galvin made the donation in memory of her mother, Shirley Galvin, who died of cancer in 2006.
Now with a fleet of four vehicles, The Shirley Shuttle meets the high demand for transport within a large region, with patronage increasing markedly following the opening of the Cancer Care Centre at Gosford Hospital in 2012.
The service is administered by Community Transport Central Coast via Coast Connect.
Operated by around 30 volunteer drivers, there is an “invited” fee of $10 per round trip per client – if they can afford it.
Central Coast Local Health District covers fuel costs, however, each vehicle requires replacement at around 100,000km (around every 2.5 years).
Cancercare Australia combined with the Rotary Club of East Gosford (which was represented by Sue Evans on the day) covered replacement and running costs of one vehicle, while Freemasons on the Central Coast (represented by Jim Nolan) covered the replacement cost of the second vehicle.
Galvin said community fundraising met other replacement and running costs as they occurred.
“This service is truly one of a kind in Australia and can only continue due to the generosity of the Central Coast community,” Galvin said.
“I continue to be proud of my contribution in my mother Shirley’s name.”
Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch praised all those involved for their contribution to the service, particularly the volunteers who gave up their time to travel up to 400km per day at times to cheerfully serve their clients.
From late November 2018 to March 2023 the four Shirley Shuttles provided 51,125 trips to 3,649 individual clients over 1,023,716km.
More than 35,000 driver hours were volunteered, some of which were delivered during COVID lockdown periods in 2020 and 2021.
Source:
The Shirley Shuttle