A CHARITY that provides a lifeline for the elderly in Glasgow has put out a desperate plea for help to fund a new minibus.

Len Littler, transport manager for Glasgow Old People's Welfare Association (GOPWA) says the current fleet is ageing and not fit for purpose.

The minibuses are used to collect pensioners and take them to the charity's three day centres, which provide companionship, activities and hot meals five days a week. Staff say the vans are also crucial for delivering emergency food parcels during the winter months.

The Evening Times is hoping to persuade local businesses, schools and our readers to help the charity fund a new vehicle so that it can continue to support the city's elderly.

Len Littler, 55, from Renfrew, who has been a driver with the charity for nine years, said: "We desperately need a new minibus.

"The buses are the bloodline of the charity.

"I've got 12-year-old vans, an 11-year-old and one that is nine.

"They are all getting old. They have done us well and they have provided a great service but we have got to the stage now where they aren't fit for purpose.

"We've got a massive area to cover with the three centres that takes in Shettleston, Yoker, Drumchapel, Battlefield, Castlemilk and beyond.

"We had a trip last year to Largs and the bus broken down.

"We then had to find out how to get another bus down there.

"I managed to speak to one of the other centres who was able to get a bus to us and did a double run at their own centre.

"That's not ideal because I'm letting down people on the other side of the city.

"In today's world, our mothers and father's don't live around the corner. They are on their own.

"If we don't get them one day, that's another week before they might see someone.

"The buses do things that maybe people don't think about. During a bad winter, and we've had a couple, we've been unable to get into some streets to get them picked up.

"If we can't do that, our drivers will get as close as possible and bring them them in bread and milk just to make sure they've got a staple diet.

"We've even had a phone call from someone regarding medication. So we jump down to the chemist, got that medication and took it to them.

"It's not as straightforward as them just coming to the centre.

"We try to help them to the best of our ability.

"Ideally we need two but one would be a tremendous boost.

"Our buses require customisation which means we need to put particular steps on them and have to have lifts at the back.

"You are looking at £35,000 which is not easy with today's cutbacks. They have affected us like everyone else."

Stewart Henderson, 78, comes five days a week to the Fred Paton Centre in Woodside. He lives in the east of the city but his nearest centre was forced to close last year due to funding cuts.

He relies on the minibus to get there. Staff described him as reclusive when he first arrived but say daily visits have transformed his mental wellbeing.

He said: "I started coming here, last September and now come five days a week. I used to go to another centre but it wasn't so good. I was just sitting around.

"You get a lot of different activities here. I like singing and dancing. I like the bingo and dominoes and the carpet bowls."

"I used to a do a lot for my mother and father. My mother died at the age of 99 and then my father got cancer."

Len, who works five days a week as a driver for the Anniesland area, said "We get great feedback from the clients. They bring you in a wee bar of chocolate.

"The ladies will tell me they miss me when I'm on holiday, which is fantastic.

"That's your payback.

"They now have a life again when they come to these centres."

To donate go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/karen-moyes1