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While the Yarning Bus is run out of Melbourne\u2019s western suburbs, Meredith Community Centre manager Leah Phillips said having the resource visit the town had many benefits.<\/p>\nAFTER nearly twelve months off the road, the Yarning Bus returned to the Meredith Community Center on Monday.<\/p>\n
Run by a husband and wife team, the service is all about getting high-quality knitting, crocheting and macrame supplies to communities that might otherwise struggle to access them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s plenty of cheap yarn out there, so we aim for a market of the purest project knitter or crochet maker that are looking to make a quality heirloom to hand down,\u201d said Lance Briggs, co-owner of the Yarning Bus.<\/p>\n
After 38 years as a sheep farmer, Mr Briggs and his wife moved off the land and into the city, however their love of high-quality wool didn\u2019t end there.<\/p>\n
After setting up a shop the couple purchased a 32-seat bus for the purposes of conversion into a camper, yet requests from small regional and rural communities for access to their products led to their current venture.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife asked that while I was driving around, could I show some wool,\u201d Mr Briggs said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe put on our website for people to contact us and people from Port Fairy asked can we come and visit. From that we stopped in at other community centres and ended up building a run.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Yarning Bus is run out of Melbourne\u2019s western suburbs, Meredith Community Centre manager Leah Phillips said having the resource visit the town had many benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more about shopping local,\u201d she said. \u201cEven though the bus is coming from Melbourne, people don\u2019t have to leave the town.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can get more services to Meredith, then people don\u2019t need to leave and will utilise our community centre. It\u2019s about offering another service and there\u2019s so many crafter\u2019s in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time the bus came was just before the COVID lockdowns, Lance had a really successful day and was wanting to come back as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the Yarning Bus is more than just helping people access quality knitting, crocheting and macrame supplies.<\/p>\n
Mr Briggs has a keen interest in the stories of the people who visit and he\u2019s collating them.<\/p>\n