Scottish Parliament e-Brief, Issue 280

Volunteers step forward
Interest in volunteering has more than doubled since the launch of a marketing campaign in January.

The first month of the Executive's "You won't believe what you can do" campaign saw over 8,000 hits on the Volunteer Scotland website, and more than 200 people have already taken up volunteering opportunities through the Volunteer Centre Network Scotland.

The Communities Minister said the dramatic increase in interest showed that many people who had not previously considered volunteering were now aware of the opportunities available.

Anyone who is interested in finding out more can visit www.volunteerscotland.org.uk, text VC to 61611 or visit their local Volunteer Centre.

Concessionary bus travel goes nationwide
More than one million people will be eligible for new concessionary bus passes, which allow travel anywhere in Scotland, under an expansion of the service previously operated by local authorities.

From 1st April, the new scheme, to be run by Transport Scotland, will allow older and disabled people to use local and long-distance buses at any time of the day, including morning rush hours.

Over 400,000 people who currently hold a pass have already sent off for the new National Entitlement Card and a survey commissioned by the Executive shows that 85% of over-60s plan to take advantage of the new service. The survey also shows that more than three quarters (83%) of older Scots would like to see more of their home country with 72% likely to take a day, trip, short break or holiday in Scotland during the coming year according to the survey. Edinburgh tops the poll of places in Scotland that older people would most like to visit, followed by Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness.

Current passes will continue to be valid until 31st March. From 1st April, access to concessionary travel will be by using the new National Entitlement Card.