Sm- The Clitheroe Thursday^ February 28th, 2013 No. 6774
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by Julie Magee
-A ’D ESPERA TE ■ ap p e al fo r ' funds has been made following
; ■ All of the buses are fitted with lifts and extra steps as well as equipment that can be used to secure wheel-
SEE PAGES 54 AND 55
. chairs and mobility aids, which all .adds to the purchase price. , . The loss of one of its four buses is
: s'eater bus is now making twice the numberdf journeys to the more ru- ' raf areas of the Ribble Valley in a bid to maintain the vital service. '
already proving a real headache for the chanty, which has already been forced to make costly changes to its bus schedules. Its smaller eight
C ’ Donna Atkinson, at the Little I^Green Bus charity, which is based ohjhe Hawthorn Industrial Estate, Upbrpoks, Clitheroe, said everyone was “^ t te d ’’:by what had happened. 'She explained that the char­
ity, which has three full-time paid members of staff, the rest being
owned by the charity. It was bought' following three years of intensive fund-raising and was the bestjof the charity’s small fleet.
getawayvehicle in which to trans­ port tools and equipment also stolen from the garage. The stolen.bus was one of four
going minor repairs to its bodywork at Sabden Motor Bodies, in Taylor Street, Clitheroe, when three men broke in and took the 16-seater ve­ hicle. The silver bus was then used as a
the theft of a community bus used to transport elderly Ribble Vally' residents living in isolated villages. ■ The Little Green Bus was under­
'■ h \ , \ i - ^'V^ort
APPEAL: Ribble Valley Mayor and Little Green Bus board member Coun. Ian Sayers, local resident Peter Robinson, Little Green Bus board member Coun. Stephen Sutcliffe, Little Green Bus manager Donna Atkinson, Little Green Bus chairman Margaret Sutcliffe and Little Green Bus coordinator Linda Kirkman who are appealing for help following the theft of one of the charity’s minibuses.
volunteers, was already struggling after losing around £50,000 a year through the Government’s austerity cuts.
ing, so losing the bus is such a nasty blow,” Donna said. - She added that the charity expect­ ed to only recoup around £15,000 through the vehicle’s insurance.
“We’ve had to battle to keep go- , . - ^ .
in a position now to take on any ex­ tra bookings, so not only js the char­ ity losing out on vital income, its also
second hand buses are few and far between, while the price of leasing a. bus is too costly. “Losing this bus means we are not
leaving a significant funding short- falltobemet. Donna explained that suitable
a loss to local community groups,” said Donna who added that the charity .was already saving lip to re­ place its oldest bus. Chairman of The Little Green Bus, Margaret Sutcliffe, said: “The
quote people most often use when they talk about The Little Green Bus is that it is a ‘lifeline’.” (continued on page 3)
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