It is Thursday. And Thursday, for Annick, is the day chosen to fill her fridge. Only, the nonagenarian, who lives alone in her house, struggles to move without her walker. However, his supermarket is just under three kilometers away, near the center of Fondettes. So she waits patiently for Catherine, her “Taxi“.”It serves me well!” enthuses Annick, “she picks me up, I do my shopping, and then she takes me home. And they are very, very nice!“
The municipality embodies the much desired proximity” – Cédric De Oliveira, Mayor of Fondettes
Catherine works at the CCAS of the town of Fondettes. His schedule is busy. She has one twenty races to do today. “People are very happy to see us, there are some for whom we are their only visit of the week. We take them to the club, to the supermarket, to see friends, to the pharmacy, to the doctor… And it’s true that when we live outside the town, for them, we are a ray of sunshine!“
Between 300 and 400 people use the service each year
The town of Fondettes is indeed very large (an area of 32 km² when Tours is 34 km²), getting to the center and its shops is therefore necessarily less obvious for isolated elderly people who have mobility problems. Especially since the children or grandchildren do not always live nearby. “We have indeed spotted this social movement that exists in families, where the children are sometimes 300, 500 kilometers from here” explains the mayor of Fondettes, Cédric De Oliveira. “And the population is aging. With this transport service, the municipality offers a real answer. We embody this closeness that is so desired. We are able to identify problems very quickly and we know how to respond to them..”
According to the latest figures from the town hall, the number of races has increased from 2,800 to 3,500 per yearin 2019.”Which is quite important for a municipality like Fondettes, which has around 1,200 seniors over 70 in a municipality of 11,000,000 inhabitants.” comments Cédric De Oliveira. In place for eight years, the Bus Vill’âge is not ready to stop. Between 300 and 400 people use it each year. The service is available from Monday to Friday. The only constraint : contact the CCAS 48 hours in advance.