THE Henley HandyBus is to buy a new vehicle.
The charity, which is run by volunteers, has been helping older people and those with mobility difficulties to get out and about, meet their friends and go shopping for more than 30 years.
The new bus, which will be delivered next summer, is costing more than £90,000. Most of the money will be raised with a £15,000 grant offered by Oxfordshire County Council and a contribution from the Henley 60-Plus Club.
The bus collects passengers from home and takes them to various places around Henley such as Waitrose, Tesco and the club in Greys Road car park. It also offers shopping trips to Reading twice a month. It can carry up to 14 passengers including those people who don’t have easy access to transport.
Richard Hodgkin, chairman of the charity, said: “We try to replace our bus every 10 years and the current one has been going since 2014.
“We do a lot of transport for the 60-Plus Club and they have always supported us. We are very grateful for their help. Their contribution plus the council grant will go a good way to paying for the bus. The rest will come from the sale of the old vehicle and our reserves.
“A new bus costs more than £90,000 and when we buy one, we are looking 10 years ahead to how we can finance the next one, so every little helps.”
Mr Hodgkin appealed for more volunteers and new drivers.
He said: “Driving for us is very rewarding as we help people who might otherwise have no way of getting around, taking them to the club or shopping and dropping them right outside their homes. You get to know the town and its people very well and our passengers love travelling with us.”
Robin Popham, 75, secretary of the charity and a driver, who has been volunteering since 2008, said: “We are always looking for drivers and charity volunteers are pretty difficult to find these days.
“There are people who will be stepping down in the not so distant future so we hope this will inspire people to step up. Most people who drive for us are retired — they find it very rewarding to help other people. There are a lot of people who wouldn’t be able to get around without the bus as we go from door to door and it is highly accessible with wheelchair access. It’s great for everyone who uses it.”
The bus is free to people with a bus pass. It is also available for outings, for example, to garden centres, for coffee mornings and afternoon teas, and in the evenings and at weekends. For more information, call 07597 124851 or email info@henleyhandybus.co.uk
Meanwhile, the Henley Hopper bus service is not to be extended in the near future due to a lack of
funding.
The bus, which runs on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between 9am and 2pm, takes residents to and from the town centre and stops in residential areas around the town.
Henley Residents Group, which controls the town council, pledged to increase the service to five days in its manifesto for the local elections in April. But now the council says it does not have the funding.
It has supported the service using financial contributions from developers since 2016 when Oxfordshire County Council removed its bus subsidies to save money. The Henley Hopper was commissioned by the council in 2020 after Reading Buses ended its contract. It is now operated by TK Travel, of Reading, and is not-for-profit. TK Travel has said it is willing to run the service five days a week.
Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak, who chaired the working group set up to investigate ways of extending the service, said the council was still committed to adding two additional days to the timetable.
He said: “Henley Residents Group did pledge a five-day service and this will happen when we can secure funding. The position at the moment is that we are looking at alternative fundraising routes to pay for two extra days.”
Councillor Gawrysiak said the council had applied for funding from the county council but was turned down.
He said: “We applied for a community transport grant but they rejected us because they said we already had a bus service. They were looking to give grant money for new services. I am committed to funding a five-day service and to make sure we have the funds to pay for this for the next five years.”
