SENIORS will be able to call and book a bus to give them free door-to-door transport around the island from next Monday.

Made possible by the efforts of charity Project Action and the generosity of benefactor David Barber, the new 12-seater bus will expand the opportunities to get out for cash-strapped and house-bound seniors.

The charity has already launched one free bus, a blue 15-seater, which takes out residents of rest homes on organised trips around Bermuda and there are plans for a third bus to further supplement the free service.

Cindy Swan, an organising consultant who co-founded Project Action with Judith Stewart six years ago, was there to unveil the bus in King's Square, St. George's, yesterday morning.

The service will start next Monday and seniors can ring 297-5044 to check availability.

Among the dignitaries who attended was Mr. Barber, who has already donated $160,000 to the project, in memory of his late wife Mary.

Mr. Barber's past philanthropic donations have included $1 million to the Bermuda Heart Foundation to help King Edward VII Memorial Hospital build a new cardiology wing. And he also gave $400,000 to Warwick Academy to allow the school to reopen its Sixth Form Centre.

"Mr. Barber is a wonderful man," Mrs. Swan said. "He has already paid out a lot of money, but he has promised to help us get our third vehicle."

The red bus service will have a paid driver and dispatcher, unlike the blue bus service which is run by volunteers. Both buses are fitted with electric wheelchair lifts.

Fund-raising is going on now to meet future running costs and the Bank of Bermuda Foundation has donated.

"We feel very strongly there is a need for this service," Mrs Swan said. "We will be providing free, door-to-door transportation to various appointments and grocery shopping, on a first-come, first-served basis.

"We started our blue bus service in November 2001 and it's run by a Bermudian senior volunteer core group.

"The service provides transportation from parish and private rest homes to events like Cup Match, the Boat Parade and tea parties. And sometimes our driver will just take them out for a drive on a Sunday."

Project Action's roots were in reading groups that Mrs. Swan and Mrs. Stewart held in the now-closed St. George's Parish Rest Home back in 1997.

"We really enjoyed it," Mrs. Swan said. "And one thing we learned was that seniors often could not afford to pay taxi fares for outings.

"So we thought we would try to raise money for seniors' transportation and when Sir John Plowman gave us his support, Project Action became a registered charity.

"Both Judith and I have elderly parents living outside Bermuda, so this makes us feel that, in a way, we are giving to our parents. While other people are looking after our parents we are helping seniors here."

And what prompted the choice of colours for the buses?

"Our first bus was blue, St. George's colours, so our second is red, Somerset colours," Mrs. Swan said.