The likelihood of the Fellrunner village bus having to withdraw its community minibus services across the Eden area has diminished as the result of a brilliant community response to its request for help.
Fellrunner chairman Kevin McGilloway was speaking following the presentation of a cheque for £2,000 from the East Lakes group of freemason lodges and the Cumberland and Westmorland Provincial Freemasons Benevolent Fund.
Mr McGilloway said: “The COVID pandemic had thrown the longer term future of our bus services into severe doubt.
“With our buses off the road for long periods of lockdown we had been burning through our reserves at an unsustainable rate.
“Our income is basically fares paid by passengers and if we are not running then we have very little coming in, but bills still have to be paid, buses kept in working order and so on.
“The local community has responded to our plea for help in a great way and we are now much more secure and confident about our future.”
The Fellrunner village bus has been running community minibus services to a weekly timetable across the Eden area for 42 years.
Entirely volunteer run, during lockdown the volunteers provided a “shop and drop” service for people who were self-isolating or who did not have any way of shopping for themselves.
“Without doubt it has been the toughest period in Fellrunner history and we are so grateful that the local community has supported us,” said Mr McGilloway.
“We have had donations from local businesses and groups amounting to several thousands of pounds, right down to passengers donating their loose change into the donation boxes on the buses.
“We have just had another cheque from our local masonic lodges and I can’t thank them enough for their ongoing support.
“If Fellrunner was to fail, 200 people across Eden would lose their bus lifeline – I am so pleased that is unlikely to happen now.
“However, there are still challenges to face, not least the reduction in passenger numbers which we must now seek to address.”
