Halesworth Bus Buddy Scheme

Since the formalisation of a new 'bus buddy' role within Halesworth Area Community Transport under the Suffolk ACRE Good Neighbour Scheme in October 2011, the scheme is able to serve around 45 people per day, 4 days per week by offering befriending, transport information and assistance with boarding to the passengers of the 511 route serving Halesworth and Holton and up to 14 people per week on the weekly 532 route between Halesworth and Laxfield.

The need for this service was identified by HACT's volunteer bus drivers who knew of elderly passengers who would regularly board the 511 bus for no particular reason but to keep warm and converse with the driver (particularly in winter) and sometimes completing the entire schedule. It was also identified in the 2011 Time For You study that many kinds of passenger need personal support to access bus services and that a person onboard who carried information and offered assistance was readily accessed by passengers. A survey of the the 511 service passengers in April 2011 identified that 78% of the passengers were over 75 years and only 2% of them could access timetables via SMS or the web offered where 80% of the bus stops have no timetables. Only 4% of passenger over 60 could use internet and email.

There are presently five volunteer bus buddys with two that do more than one shift from 12 potential 'shifts' in a week.The peak travel times of Wednesday market day are reliably served by two volunteers.

Some of the outcomes have been that the presence of the bus buddy now allows the bus to be in immediate mobile phone contact with the office – as the bus buddy can talk while the bus is moving -  to arrange any last-minute pickups for the mobility impaired (the 511 can vary up to 250 yards from its route to give door-to-door service which practically saturates the town). The bus buddy speeds up the service of the route ensuring reliability as the driver does not have to exit the vehicle to assist a passenger with boarding and there is extra assistance and additional safety for the driver and passengers in operation of the disabled lift. The buddy can guide the driver when the vehicle has to reverse or negotioate tight spaces, which is becoming common with the present parking problems in the town.  The bus buddy helps passengers board with shopping and the bus buddy can carry the shopping to their door on request.

Every Bus Buddy is also equipped with a comprehensive information on local events and activities accessible in the area which is maintained by a volunteer. They also carry current local transport schedules to advise passengers of onward connections.

The Bus Buddy facilitates 'word-of-mouth' broadcasting to passengers news on events and activities in the town such as coffee mornings, library events, jumble sales, and specialist services, such as the Digital Switchover Help Scheme, and feedback from the volunteers indicates that is effective in encouraging people to remain active and access these services, especially for those people isolated from internet access or the local print media (which needs some improvement on content, clarity and readability). 

There have been particularly noted successes in the bus buddy engaging with passengers about the Halesworth Campus consultation, the Jubilee Bunting Bees that were held monthly at the public library (for which the bus was a fabric collection point) and a special promotion for pub lunches at the Wissett Plough. Passengers got involved with fundraising for the Hoppa service by saving till receipts from the Co-op supermarket that were match funded by the Co-operative Society at one penny per receipt (4000 receipts raised £400) and collected coupons for a discount on diesel fuel. This has engaged the passengers in recognising that the service is provided by volunteers, which sometimes gets forgotten.

The Bus Buddys have also handed out leaflets for the WDC sponsored Suffolk Careline alarm service, Age UK, SCC Warm Homes scheme leaflets and the BBC Digital Switchover Scheme which was arranged through their connection with Suffolk ACRE.

Volunteers have noticed that the presence of the bus buddy fosters more conversations on the bus between passengers which must have some impact on reducing people’s loneliness.  And if no other passengers are aboard, now a passenger will have someone they can to talk to without distracting the driver. The bus has now become a social space and is more than a means of transportation.

Another aspect of the Bus Buddy is the support they give to the volunteer drivers. Their assistance enables volunteer drivers to do more shifts and reduces their fatigue which supports those who might aver taking on the more demanding shifts.

All the legal and good practise questions of providing this service have been covered under the support offered by Suffolk ACRE to Good Neighbour Schemes so the Bus Buddy scheme will continue under this umbrella for the foresable future.

If you can't help on the Hoppa but would like to support your community as a bus buddy, please contact your local community transport operator as many similar schemes operate around the UK.