Totnes and Rural Community bus group released this article to the press today
It’s all change on Community buses in the Totnes area following the amalgamation of Totnes Bob the Bus with the Harbourne Shuttle. The new organisation has a fleet of four 15 seater Mercedes minibuses and a pool of volunteer drivers to meet some of the transport needs of the town and surrounding villages. All the services are Hail and Ride and for all members of the community, young or old. From April 27th a new timetable will be introduced which features –
• A doubling of services in Totnes Town centre connecting the main street with the rail Station, Doctor’s surgeries and other buses.
• New services twice a week to Littlehempston and Rattery villages
• Year round twice weekly services to Stoke Gabriel
• Doubling the twice weekly services to Ashprington, Cornworthy and Tuckenhay
• Extra services to and from Harberton and Harbertonford.
Sue Speak, Chair of the new Totnes and Rural Community Bus Association, which will continue to operate as Bob the Bus, said
“I am delighted that the new organisation will give us a base on which to continue to develop and run new and existing services. Over the last few months a lot of work has been done by our volunteer committee and especially by our co-ordinator, Lyn Price, to get us to this point. There is still plenty to do to ensure that BOB has a sustainable future and we are constantly on the lookout for volunteer drivers, supporters and committee members. We also hope to expand the hire side of BOB where local affiliated organisations and individuals can hire a bus for trips and outings. Look out for Bob Roadshows coming to your Village in March!”
For more information contact Lyn Price 07800 745332 bobthebushire@yahoo.co.uk
To coincide with our roadshows, Graham Walker will be undertaking a 150 mile sponsored walk tracing the route of Bob the bus.
Graham who, for the past 30 years has been a familiar sight on the streets around the South West, is best known for his role as a Big Issue man and fundraiser.
Often seen sporting his trademark Top Hat and Tails, Grahams years as a Big Issue man; an itinerant, witnessed him raise over £60,000 for local charities in many communities throughout Devon and Somerset.
Now though, due to severe health reasons, Graham’s days of ‘tramping about’ (His own words) have been curtailed and he now lives permanently in the Totnes area.
Graham explains; Yes, it’s been an amazing time living my life as a tramp. Most significantly it gave me the opportunity when selling the Big Issue in various towns, to reciprocate the support I received by fundraising for a local cause before moving on. Now, due to having undergone 15 months of treatment for cancer and finding a permanent home in Totnes, I have sorely missed my tramping and fundraising exploits. But the medical advice I was given recently to take regular exercise inspired me. So I thought I’d utilise that exercise in order to raise funds for the community.
My first fundraiser was in Totnes some 20 years ago when I raised over £2,500 for a local Chernobyl children’s project. It seems fitting then that my final fundraiser will be in the same town where it all started. Fitting also that Bob the bus will be the main beneficiary of that fundraising, having received numerous supportive waves from Bob’s passengers over the years as it passed by my Big Issue pitch. So, from the 2nd-14th of March I will be ‘a tramp about town’, dressed in my now, well-worn Top hat and tails. Hopefully bowing out in style and hopefully raising significant funds for Bob the Bus and a new community information magazine. Both schemes, in their own way, bringing elements of the local community together in Totnes: a town that has been so supportive to me over the years and a town that I am now lucky enough to call home.