WEDMORE COMMUNITY BUS  - The Friendly Bus

The Community bus is a not for profit bus service run by volunteers for the benefit of the local community. It provides regular Scheduled Services to 5 locations. There will soon also be regular Excursions to other places. The bus is also available for Private Hire, principally for the use of  local community groups.

 Read on for further information and contact details.

 Scheduled Services

The Basics

There are five Scheduled Services. These are to

Taunton - Tuesday

 Bridgwater - Wednesday

Weston-s-Mare - Thursday

Street & Glastonbury - Friday

Cribbs Causeway - some Mondays

The bus departs from Wedmore Car Park at The Lerburne at around 9.30am to start picking up passengers. It returns to Wedmore between 1.30 and 3.00 depending on the destination.

• The bus is a friendly place where there is normally a happy buzz of conversation. Our passengers often meet for a coffee whilst at the destination.
• Anyone is welcome to come on the bus and a place can easily be booked by telephone.
• We try to pick up and drop off at the homes of all users who need this. For other passengers this will be at a location that is convenient for them. We are also flexible about drop offs on route.
• We are happy to provide help in getting on and off the bus for those who need it.
• Drivers are all volunteers who want to help passengers to enjoy their time on the bus as much as possible.
• The service is free for everyone with a Concessionary Bus Pass and for children under 5 years old on all services except Cribbs Causeway. Cribbs Causeway is £2 for Concessions and free for children under 5. For other passengers, fares are low as the bus is financed by Somerset Council and drivers are volunteers.

Read on for more detailed information

Booking and Pick Up

Making a booking is easy.

• Call the telephone number indicated below for the service you wish to use at the time shown.
• You will be provided with a location where you will be picked up. This will be somewhere that suits you. You will also be given a pick up time, this is normally between 9.30 and 10am.
• If you need to be picked up from your home this can usually be arranged.
• Passengers using wheelchairs need to make a provisional booking a minimum of one week in advance, the booking will be confirmed after the necessary arrangements have been made.

Pickups for all five services are normally available in Wedmore, Sand, Heath House, Mudgley, Latcham, Cocklake and Blackford.

Additional pickups are normally available in other villages on route to each destination

• Cribbs Causeway - pickups at Mark
• Taunton & Bridgwater - pickups at Mark, Bason Bridge and East Huntspill
• Weston-super-Mare - pickups at Stoughton, Allerton and Mark
• Street - pick ups at Theale and Godney

Alternatively, just come to the Lerburne car park in Wedmore before 9.30. We will normally be able to fit you in, except for Cribbs Causeway which is normally fully booked.

Destinations and drop offs

Outbound - Each service runs to pre-set locations at the destination.

• Taunton - The bus station and East Street
• Bridgwater - Angel Place and the Retail Park
• Weston-super Mare - Waterloo Street and the Retail Park
• Street - Clarks Village and Sainsburys
• Cribbs Causeway - the Mall

However, it is normally possible to make additional drop offs on route if these are requested, for example, on the Weston trip people can be dropped at the hospital whilst a drop off at Bridgwater College can be made on the way to Bridgwater.

Return - There are pre-set pick up times and locations for the return journey although additional pick up locations are usually possible if requested. Each passenger is returned to their original departure point at the end of the return journey.

Drivers do their best to ensure that all passengers have a safe and enjoyable journey.

Timetable and booking details

All services except Cribbs Causeway run every week. For information on dates of Cribbs Causeway services phone Angeline Duckett on 01934 712631.

All services leave Wedmore Car Park at The Lerburne at around 9.30am to start picking up passengers.

The  Cribbs Causeway, Taunton and Weston-super-Mare services arrive back in Wedmore at around 3pm. The Bridgwater  service is back at about 2.00pm and the Street and Glastonbury service at about 1.30pm.

Book and arrange your pick up time and location by calling

Tuesday to Taunton

Angeline Duckett  on 01934 712631 between 6pm & 6.30 pm on the previous evening.

Wednesday to Bridgwater

Helen Flooks on 01934 611006 between 6pm & 6.30 pm on the previous evening.

Thursday to Weston-super-Mare

Carol Ayliffe  on 01934 713471 between 6pm & 6.30 pm on the previous evening.

Friday to Street & Glastonbury

Ann Hughes on 01934 712832 between 6pm & 6.30 pm on the previous evening.

Some Mondays to Cribbs Causeway

Angeline Duckett  on 01934 712631 as early as possible.

Relief Booking Controller

Lesley 01934 900571

Fares

All services except for Cribbs Causeway are FREE for everyone with a Concessionary Bus Pass and for children under 5 years old. For other passengers, fares are as follows.

Private Hire

The community bus is available for private hire at these times:

• Weekends (all day and evening)
• Some Mondays (all day and evening)
• Tuesday to Friday (15:30 onwards)

Our drivers are fully trained and they volunteer to provide this local service.

Each enquiry will be provided with a list of drivers to contact.

If you are a community group and wish to make regular use of the service, then we can train one of your members, so you always have a driver available.

The bus safely seats 16 people, and will cost a blanket charge of £2 per mile (plus a discretionary tip for the volunteer driver).  There is a discounted rate of £1 per mile for

• youth’s and children‘s community groups

and

• adult’s community groups who have their own driver approved by Somerset Council.

To book our comfortable community bus for your event or outing, please email Wayne:

iowrtabookings@gmail.com

Contact

For further information about anything relating to The Community Bus please email us on wedmorebus@gmail.com

WEDMORE COMMUNITY BUS The Friendly Bus

New Volunteer Drivers Needed

 The community bus has vacancies for volunteer drivers for Scheduled Services on Mondays to Fridays and/or Private Hire for community and social groups on weekday evenings and at weekends.

We would particularly welcome volunteers connected with community groups as we’d like to expand use of the bus by this sector.

Driving the bus

• isn’t a big commitment. Many volunteers are only available occasionally but they still make a valuable contribution. Even the volunteers who drive most frequently rarely drive more than once a month and they only drive at times when they make themselves available.
• is very rewarding as it provides an important service to many local residents.
• is great fun as the bus is a friendly place where there is normally a happy buzz of conversation and plenty of laughs.
• isn’t difficult. All drivers are given free training by an approved Somerset CC trainer. This is provided before the volunteer starts driving and is repeated every 4 years.

Volunteers do need to have category D1 on their driving licence but this should be available on all licences gained before September 2008. They will also need to undergo a DBS check (Disclosure and Barring Service) which we will arrange at no cost to the volunteer.

Interested? If so please contact us either by email on wedmorebus@gmail.com or telephone Phil Butterworth on 01934 712775.

For further details of the Community Bus and its services go to the Wedmore website at theisleofwedmore.net under Local Directory/Wedmore Community Bus or email us on wedmorebus@gmail.com

WEDMORE COMMUNITY BUS The Friendly Bus

Enhanced Community Bus Services

The Community Bus services  to Weston-super-Mare, Bridgwater and Cribbs Causeway are being enhanced.

Cribbs Causeway

Last year we initiated a monthly service to Cribbs Causeway Shopping Centre which normally runs on the 3rd Monday of each month. This has been so successful that we have extended our trial of additional trips to March and April.

So there will be Cribbs Causeway services on  4th and 11th March and 8th and 15th April. For bookings and further information call Angeline Duckett on 01934 712631. These trips are popular and spaces are limited so call as soon as you can.

Bridgwater and Weston-super-Mare

These services run weekly on Wednesdays and Thursdays respectively. Both services will now make additional stops at the Out of Town Shopping in addition to the existing stops in the town centres.

This means passengers can now be dropped off and picked up at either the town centre or the out of town shopping. By arrangement there will usually also be an option to be transferred between the two locations.

The out of town shopping at Weston includes Dunelm, The Range, Iceland, Halfords, Wicks, B&M, Currys, Pets at Home, Topps Tiles, Next, Asda, Waitrose and Majestic Wine.

At Bridgwater it includes Sainsburys, Lidl, Iceland, Asda, Costa, McDonald’s, Subway, M&S Foodhall, Pets at Home, Jollyes Pet Store, Farmfoods, Cancer Research UK, Home Bargains, Currys, Shoe Zone, Next, Card Warehouse and Halfords.

So there’s plenty of retail therapy available at both locations!