A volunteer bus service which has served the Eden community for more than 40 years has been awarded the UK’s highest honour for its work.
Fellrunner Village Bus has been given the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service – the MBE for volunteer groups.
Fellrunner delivers an essential service to its local community.
It connects the many small villages and isolated hamlets in Eden district to Penrith and Carlisle.
Fellrunner services were launched in November 1979 after two years of planning by the local community, Cumbria County Council and Voluntary Action Cumbria.
The first bus was a 17-seater Ford Transit minibus leased from the County Council, but since 1996 the buses have been owned by the Fellrunner.
In the early days the bus ran through the East Fellside villages, providing a feeder service to connect with the Ribble services from Langwathby to Penrith and Carlisle.
Since the withdrawal of all commercial services, the Fellrunner itself has provided scheduled services from the Fellside to both Penrith and Carlisle.
These have been supplemented by private hire excursions.
In 1999 it was decided to have two buses in order to extend the scheduled service to other villages – in the Lyvennet Valley on Tuesday and to Calthwaite, Catterlen, and Blencow on Friday.
In 2004 a third bus was bought and an extra Wednesday route was added for Ainstable, Croglin and Renwick.
Services have been further extended in recent years to assist in those areas where commercial services have withdrawn, for example, Skelton and Burnbanks.
In 2015, the volunteers were able to add a low floor accessible bus to the fleet and it currently runs two – meaning easy access for wheelchair users.
The Fellrunner is operated by The Fellrunner Village Bus Ltd.
The Fellrunner Village Bus has six trustees who take responsibility for the strategic direction and day-to-day operation of Fellrunner, supported by a number of volunteers – both drivers and non-drivers – who perform specific tasks.
It currently has three 17-seat minibuses, (driver plus up to 16 passengers) all owned by Fellrunner.
Westmorland County Agricultural Show and Bay Search and Rescue have also been handed the honour.
Westmorland County Agricultural Society, established on 1799, provides community-led agricultural events and educational programmes promoting food, farming and the environment.
Bay Search and Rescue delivers a volunteer all-terrain and amphibious search and rescue service in Morecambe Bay.
In total, 241 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups received the prestigious award this year across the UK.
The winning organisations will receive a certificate signed by The Queen and a domed glass crystal which will be presented by HM Lord-Lieutenant of Cumbria, Claire Hensman.
Two volunteers from each group will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2022, along with other recipients of this year’s award.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is an annual award made to recognise and reward the most exceptional and innovative groups who provide voluntary led activities carried out by local groups in the community.
It is a highly competitive and prestigious award and only about half of the nominations can expect to win.
The award was announced in 2002 as part of the celebrations for The Queen’s Golden Jubilee, and was first known as The Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award.
Mrs Hensman said: “The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest accolade for any voluntary organisation and I am thrilled that some of our organisations in Cumbria have achieved national recognition.
“I would like to thank our winning organisations for their tireless work and commitment to the communities they serve. I do congratulate them.
“They are all thoroughly deserving of this award. Volunteers are the glue that hold our communities together.”
“There are many more voluntary groups across Cumbria doing excellent, innovative work enhancing the lives and experiences of many people in their local communities.
“Many have stepped up to the current COVID-19 challenge in very difficult circumstances and they have all our admiration and gratitude.
“I hope that this will prompt more nominations for the next year’s round of awards.”
