It’s most rewarding for the bus committee to see our community bus supporting so many activities around the area. In October, including the morning Seaton school journeys, we averaged 9 outings per week and with Christmas approaching and new ideas and initiatives kicking in, this is set to rise in the next few months. It goes without saying that this does place an additional burden on drivers and administrators but it’s a task they’re all well up for!
Speaking of new initiatives, Emma Lock has now launched her ‘Sea Swim Club’ and they had their first outing on 17th October to Cawsand with the next dates scheduled for 24 November and 8 December. The physical and mental benefits of sea swimming are well proven, and Emma is looking to set up a variety of events (at different locations) that cater for all abilities. So if this is something you’re looking to have a go at, this would be the ideal club to get you going. £5 per trip goes to bus, book directly or chat first with Emma on 07970244202.
As well as our weekly scheduled trips to PLYMOUTH (Tuesdays 0930hrs) and LISKEARD (Thursday 0930hrs), in November, we have trips to LOOE (3rd 1130hrs), TAVISTOCK (14th 0930hrs) TRURO (19th 0930hrs). All bookings are taken through Bev Brighton on 10503 250944. On Friday 28th we also have and excursion to Ivybridge and Endsleigh Garden Centre (0930hrs, £8) and with Christmas in mind we are already taking bookings for a trip to Totnes late night Christmas market on 9th December (3.30pm £10). A full schedule of our service can be found here, on village notice boards, the DASRA website and our own website at www.dscombus.com.
Our wonderful fund raisers at the ‘Friends of the Bus’ have also organised some very exciting fund-raising events, the first of which is the AUCTION NIGHT at the Smugglers Inn on Saturday 15th Nov, starting at 7.30pm. This is centred around a Cheese and Wine evening and has some quite spectacular lots ranging from a week’s holiday flat in Lanzarote, 3 course meals, designer handbags, vintage whiskey, gallons of Ale, massages/wellness treats, local overnight hotel stays (B&B) …… and much more. Don’t miss this one! Later in the month we also have the ever-popular Bingo night, also at the Smugglers, on Saturday 29th. The community Bus for these events with shuttle from Downderry starting at 6pm and we can update you further at the coffee morning on Wednesday 12th (Village Hall hrs1030) and on our website www.dscombus.com. Full details and updates from the friends of the bus can be found on their Facebook site - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1120178456052971/
NEW DRIVERS? In truth, after 34 years in the army, I never saw myself getting so involved in something like this but now I appear to be Chairman…. how did that happen? The reason is because when I saw how hard so many people were selflessly working to make this Bus viable that I felt ‘enthused’ to join in. If you feel you’d like to join us as a driver or administrator, then please do get in contact with me – it would be great to have you on the team. See more at https://www.dscombus.com/volunteers.
Rob Gascoigne
Chairman
dscombus@gmail.com
As another summer season comes to a close, the community bus committee can look forward with renewed enthusiasm to maintaining our scheduled services and providing a variety of community support activities. Our morning scheduled services from Seaton to Downderry will ensure our children have a reliable and safe option to get to school and in October, in addition to our weekly scheduled trips to PLYMOUTH and LISKEARD, we have trips to EXETER (1st), LOOE (3rd), TOTNES (10th), TRURO (15th). We also have an exciting excursion to Davidstowe Airfield and Cornwall at War Museum (24th) so please book early to ensure your place (Bev – 01503 250944). Our schedule is published here and in the Nut Tree magazine and also regularly updated on our website www.dscombus.com along with lots more useful information.
Our scheduled services are open to all members of the public although if you wish to hire our bus for an event you must register as a local organisation/society and pay a one-off £10 registration fee. An hourly rate will be charged (currently £2/mile) and confirmation of driver credentials will be required (if not using one of our Association drivers).
As ever, our wonderful fund raisers at the ‘Friends of the Bus’ continue to develop a full programme of events (Facebook page). Next coffee morning at Downderry Village Hall is on 8th October and it would be just great if you could join us for while – we can update you on the latest bus news and there will be our usual raffle and quiz. Jo will also announce the 300 Club winners and Mary will once again impress everyone with her wonderful baking! Following on from the success of the charity Line Dancing night - hosted by our great friends at the Smugglers Inn - future events will include our popular quiz nights (18 October) and bingo (date tbc). Whilst its early days yet, a marker for your diary is 15 November when we will be holding a fund-raising auction at the Smugglers. I’ll update at the next newsletter and on the website, but we are very excited about a great evening with some pretty awesome prizes! If you’d like to donate a prize to help our cause, then please let me know (dscombus@gmail.com) and I’ll ensure it is passed on to the organisers.
NEW DRIVERS? There are many facets that contribute towards the success of a Community Bus Scheme, and we are indeed fortunate to have so many awesome volunteers who make our bus service so successful. Volunteer drivers are however the very lifeblood of our efforts, and it is essential that we keep a viable pool of willing volunteer drivers who donate their time and effort into keep our bus on the road. So please, if you feel you can help (by driving a couple of trips per month?) then you would genuinely be doing something that contributes towards the wellbeing of your local community (contact - dscombus@gmail.com). To some, our bus is a fantastic way to enhance their lives in our area and to others it’s a lifeline. More information can be found at https://www.dscombus.com/volunteers.
Rob Gascoigne
Chairman
dscombus@gmail.com
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The Downderry & District Community Bus Association is a voluntary organisation - Charity Number 1000967 - formed to serve the welfare and needs of the Downderry, Hessenford, Narkus and Seaton communities. The community bus provides a regular weekly link with both Plymouth and Liskeard and an early morning service between Seaton and Downderry during school terms. Other popular, regular destinations include Truro, Tavistock, Totnes, Exeter and Looe. The timetable and details of monthly excursions, usually on a Friday, are available in the Nut Tree monthly newsletter, on local websites (including this one, see below) and on the village noticeboards.
Concessionary fare cards can be used on the Plymouth and Liskeard routes. Under 15s travel at half price and there is no charge for under 5s. A gentle reminder to all passengers who use discretionary passes on our registered routes, namely the Plymouth and Liskeard services. Can you please try to remember always to have your pass with you, as it is possible that an inspector could choose to come on board during a journey to check up that our claims for reimbursement are being made properly. Many thanks.
To book a seat please ring Bev Brighton on weekdays between 9am and 5pm on 01503 250944. You can also support your bus by joining the 300 Club and buying a monthly draw ticket. It only costs £12 for the year. To join please contact Jo Woodley on 01503 250489, or email here: or come to one of our sociable Tea and Cake afternoons usually held at Downderry & Seaton Village Hall. Check the events diary for dates.There is always a raffle and the ever popular puzzle and book stall. Phone Jane Mather for bus hire bookings by affiliated groups on 01503 250840, For any other matters please contact Kevin Done, Chairman, on 01752 466313 or Jem Hall, Vice Chairman, on 01503 261497. We are always looking to recruit new drivers and helpers.
Chairman’s Report Bus AGM on financial year 2023/24 on 28 October 2024 in Downderry and Seaton Village Hall.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I guess we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief, and we can count our blessings too. During this last financial year to the end of July 2024 we have completed one of the biggest missions that the Downderry & District Community Bus Association ever faces. Namely the purchase of a new bus to replace the old one. On a momentous day in early March this year we drove our new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 15-passenger minibus, registration number WA24UMM, into the car park of Inn on the Shore sparking a very special celebration. It really felt as if our whole village community gathered together in those hours at Inn on the Shore to welcome the new bus into our midst.
And wonderfully the ribbon was cut by John Measures, who was the original chairman of the Community Bus, when it was founded more than 35 years ago.
The welcome event was organised by our magnificent Friends of the Bus fundraisers, led by Sandra Pearce and all her colleagues, along with the indefatigable Jane Hall, who in her day job on the bus committee leads on arranging our excursions programme. Jane put in overtime to help lead in organising the celebration.
The original constitution of the community bus association says it was set up “to serve the educational, recreational and welfare needs of the residents of Downderry, Hessenford, Narkurs and Seaton (both sides of the river).” I love the phrase “both sides of the river.” And that is exactly what we seek to do. We are a registered charity and are administered and operated solely by volunteers, a fantastically hard-working and dedicated bunch of people, of whom I am very proud and to whom I am very grateful for all that they do.
We consider ourselves to be a key part of the infrastructure of the Deviock Parish.
Our population is growing as many new property developments in our villages are added; but all this at a time when public services are under pressure as seldom before, not least in the transport sector, where public subsidies for bus services are being reduced and routes are cut. The threats are real. But as long as we have our Community Bus in robust, good shape, we have our local solution to meeting the challenges.
Our previous bus, which served us well, was almost ten years old. The replacement cycle was longer than had previously been the case, in important part due to the intervention of the Covid pandemic. But it was time to change. While the previous bus was still working well, your committee has always believed, that you have to get ahead of the game to make this key move. You can’t wait till the existing bus is falling apart.
We also believe, that we owe it to our passengers, to our drivers and duty officers, and to all of our volunteers to try to provide the best bus we can afford, in order to deliver the best reliability, predictability, consistency and safety, the best service we can. That is why we bought a NEW bus. We deeply believe this is the right way to go.
We could afford it this time. We had saved funds carefully over the years through our operations, through fundraising, and we had some important help at the end to get us over the line. A grant of £2,000 from Deviock Parish Council - a big thank you to them - and £2,000 from the Community Fund of DaSRA, the Downderry and Seaton Residents Association - a big thank you to them. And a warning, we will be coming back again for more support at the appropriate moment.
I said in my report a year ago, that buying our new bus would wipe out much of our current savings, but that, that was OK, that’s what our accumulated funds are there for. We always face an existential challenge to fill the hole in our finances to prepare for the next new bus. But the good news today is that we are beginning to put in place the foundations to meet the challenge, and as our very hard-working treasurer Lynne Rees can report next, we do now have around £40,000 in the bank. So we are on the way.
Physical assets need replacing every so often. And so too do the human assets of any organisation. Before I came to Downderry more than 15 years ago, I vowed never to join any committees. But what did I know. This is Downderry after all. I started driving the bus 13 years ago and joined the committee nearly 11 years ago. And I will soon have been the chairman of the Downderry and District Community Bus Association for six years.
In the pursuit of good governance, not least, I believe it is time to renew the chairmanship of the association to provide new energy that comes with new leadership. I told the committee earlier this year of my plan, that with the new bus in place, it felt right to bring in a new chairman for the next stage in the evolution of the Community Bus. The committee is fully supporting the planned change.
I hope that in a few minutes this AGM will also back the proposal that Rob Gascoigne should officially join the committee. He has already been co-opted on to the committee. Rob has already been doing great work as both a driver and as a duty officer.
Understandably he wants to kick the tyres of the organisation first and to get to know the committee in more detail. And it will then be up to the committee to elect a new chairman, probably during the coming year. The bus association is blessed by having a wonderful committee. We all have our well-defined jobs and just get on with the task in hand.
Special thanks are due right now to Raj Chotai, Richard Broad, Jem Hall, deputy chairman and ops man, as he styles it, and to Lynne Rees, treasurer, who led the project to find and buy the best bus for our needs. Raj led the negotiations.
I have name-checked some of our wonderful committee, but not yet all. A huge thank you is due also to Jane Mather for managing the bus diary, for rostering our drivers and DOs. A huge thank you to Heather Thomas, our wonderful secretary, for keeping us all on the straight and narrow. And to Lynne Rees for the great job she does in managing our finances. A huge thank you to Bev Brighton, for so many passengers the beautiful face or voice of the bus, who takes all our passenger bookings. A huge thank you to Jane Hall for leading on our excursions programme, a key generator of bus revenues. A huge thank you to Jo Woodley, who tirelessly runs the 300 Club fundraising and keeps on finding new members. A huge thank you to Richard Broad for testing our new drivers and for shouldering a massive part of our driving. A special thank you to Jem Hall, our deputy chairman and operations man, who stays calm, when I am flapping badly.
Huge thanks to all of our drivers and duty officers, and especially to Mal Moss, a DO and driver for more years than he probably wants to remember, who has also indicated it is about time, to call time. Soon. Thank you Mal for all you have done for the Bus.
And a huge thank you to our wonderful fundraising Friends of the Bus. Sandra Pearce had injected new energy into this operation, and we have been saddened by her illness and wish her as speedy a recovery, as she can manage.
Bev Brighton wears so many hats, I have lost count, but she is a stalwart of Friends of the Bus and of the Theatre Group, a vital and very big user of the Bus. Thank you all our Friends.
You will all be key in raising more funds for the next bus. We report on last year’s efforts today, and the work continues tomorrow.
Just finally, we will also be looking in more detail at our charitable organisation and status in coming months. We are an unincorporated charitable organisation, which allows us to have a low-cost, fairly simple way of organising our financial reporting. We have seen how some other organisations in the village, most notably the Village Hall, have evolved in recent months. There may be lessons we can learn.
(ends)
