A vital rural bus service urgently needs more volunteer drivers to maintain its reliability for passengers.
Recently, the Faversham Community Hopper Bus, which serves the surrounding villages, had to cancel an afternoon service when a driver called in sick.
Now the town council, which runs the scheme with a transport grant from Kent County Council, has put out an appeal in a bid to boost its pool of volunteers.
“We don’t like to cancel any services because the reliability of the hopper bus is very important to our passengers, many of whom are elderly,” said Rob Gibbs, who is community transport project manager at the town council.
“Currently, we have a pool of about eight volunteer drivers but, ideally, would like two or three more.”
The requirement is a D1 category on their driver’s licence but Mr Gibbs says anyone who passed their test before 1997 will have that designation already.
“In any event, we put all new drivers through recognised training to drive a passenger mini bus and ensure the safety of users,” he added.
The hopper bus was introduced in April last year after Stagecoach cut a rural bus service, causing uproar among people living in rural areas.
It covers villages, including Newnham, Doddington, Teynham, Lynsted and Oare.
The service is funded with a £60,000 grant from Kent County Council, which largely covers the cost of leasing the 12-seater Mercedes Benz Sprinter bus for three years.
It operates on Wednesdays with a Faversham loop from Oare and a villages loop on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
But Mr Gibbs says that future funding of the scheme by KCC at the end of the three-year term in 2027 is not guaranteed and the town council may need to look for alternative funding sources to keep it going, if there is demand.
Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer driver can call Mr Gibbs on 01795 503286 or email hopper@favershamtowncouncil.co.uk.
For more information on using the hopper bus go to www.favershamtowncouncil.gov.uk/active-travel/community-bus-service
