By Carole Dennett
FYT Bus volunteers Gareth Wyre and Hilary Benns bring the FYT Bus back to Yarmouth
credit: Alan Benns
A new Freshwater, Yarmouth and Totland (FYT) bus has been added to the charity’s fleet of vehicles.
The 13-seater minibus, which has the option to lift and carry a wheel-chair passenger, was brought over from the Mainland last Thursday (Sept 17) by volunteers Gareth Wyre and Hilary Benns.
It was been funded by local donors on the Isle of Wight including a generous £10,350 from the Isle of Wight Foundation (Island Roads) and £2,000 from the Old Gaffers Festival which was formerly held in Yarmouth. Wightlink also provided a free passage for the bus to travel to the Island.
Totland Parish Councillor Hilary, said: “This is a fantastic addition to our fleet. The new bus will be used on our scheduled morning routes which are returning back to their previous timetable from October 5 after several months of a reduced service due to Coronavirus constraints.
“Timetables are available on the buses, from the FYTbus office in the Broadway, Totland and on the FYTbus website fytbus.org.uk. For the time being the afternoon route will continue to run on Tuesdays and Thursdays only.
“There is also a FYTbus around the area marked School Service. This is transporting pupils from Freshwater to Yarmouth School while the site in Freshwater is being rebuilt. We are also running a twice monthly shopping trip from the West Wight to Newport and offers a dial-a-ride service to St Mary’s Hospital and other medical appointments on the Island.”
The FYTbus has been a huge success in the West Wight since its launch in Dec 2011 and among its many awards is the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
Isle of Wight Observer