Yellow Buses drivers come tops for safe and fuel efficient driving

Four drivers at Yellow Buses have achieved ‘Fleet Elite’ status for driving safely and fuel efficiently.

A further 27 drivers received commendations – with 14 achieving gold status – thanks to the Bournemouth-based operator’s continuing partnership with GreenRoad.

Installed on all Yellow Buses vehicles, the GreenRoad platform uses a simple system to give drivers instant feedback about their driving manoeuvres.

It encourages smoother, safer, and more fuel-efficient driving.

David Squire, Yellow Buses’ Managing Director, pictured left, said:  “2020 was a year of extremes with periods of lockdown with little traffic on the roads, through to the gridlock of the summer, providing a challenge to our drivers.

“We are proud that four drivers achieved master fleet elite status, and another 27 drivers have received commendations, with 14 achieving gold status.

“This is a fantastic achievement.

“We celebrate our terrific staff as key workers who kept essential travel going throughout the pandemic.”

Richard Hemming, GreenRoad’s Vice President of Customer Success, said: “We congratulate Yellow Buses and its excellent drivers on their ongoing commitment to safety and the community at large.

“We pledge to continue supporting their efforts with top tier safety telematics tools and our motivating Fleet Elite awards programme.”

Yellow Buses operates a fleet of 110 buses while sister company Yellow Coaches has 16 coaches and mini-coaches.

The company, which employs more than 350 staff, carries just under 14m passengers in a normal year with its vehicles operating nearly five million miles across the BCP area as well as East Dorset and West Hampshire.

Yellow Buses is the south coast’s largest independent bus and coach operator.

It returned to local ownership in 2019 after a Management Buy Out from French transport group, RATP.

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MYTIME Young Carers receives cash boost from NFU Mutual

MYTIME Young Carers has received a donation of more than £6,450 from a national £2m ‘Agency Giving Fund’ launched by NFU Mutual.

The Dorset charity was nominated by NFU Mutual agents and staff at the Bournemouth agency in Westbourne.

The rural insurer announced the fund earlier this year to help local frontline charities during 2021.

It followed £1m of support delivered by NFU Mutual’s Agency Giving Fund in 2020.

This helped charities across many sectors to keep their life-changing services going throughout the pandemic.

To ensure donations reached all corners of the UK , NFU Mutual’s agents, with over 300 offices nationwide, were given the opportunity to nominate local charities to receive a share of the fund.

John Heather, Senior Agent for the New Forest, Isle of Wight and Bournemouth, is pictured presenting the cheque to Krista Sharp, CEO, MYTIME Young Carers.

He said: “Having considered over 65 nominations we decided to focus the donations for our three offices on charities that are helping to look after the health and well-being of young people locally.

“MYTIME Young Carers have been making a wonderful difference to young people in our community during these challenging times, and we feel extremely proud to be able to support their efforts.”

Krista said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been awarded such a generous grant from NFU Mutual.

“This has been a tough year for so many people, and young carers who normally do so much for the people they care about have been faced with so many additional challenges.

“This funding will allow us to continue to support the young carers we work with and has secured the future of our MYTIME Youth Group which was set up during Covid.

“This group gives young carers the chance to come together and take part in a wide range of fun activities.

“Thank you so much to everyone at NFU Mutual and, in particular, the team at their Bournemouth Agency for their support and generosity.”

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Rebecca spends week living on same rations as a Syrian refugee

A food writer known as The Adventurous Glutton has so far raised more than £1,300 by taking part in this week’s  – June 13 to 19 – Ration Challenge.

Rebecca Perl is living on the same rations as a Syrian refugee for a week.

She’s raising money for emergency food, healthcare and life-saving support for those who have been hit the hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

Her basic rations are just under 2kg plain white rice, 400g plain flour, 330ml vegetable oil, 85g dried chickpeas, 170g lentils, one tin of sardines and one tin of kidney beans for the week.

Rebecca, who lives in Highcliffe and is Director of Messagelab Communications, has also earned extra rewards – such as one spice and one vegetable – by hitting fundraising targets.

She said: “When I first weighed out my rations, I was truly shocked.

“It is nothing.

“I was nervous about my week ahead, but devastated that people have to live on these rations day in and day out.

“I am so lucky, and that’s why I wanted to do my bit to help – both to raise awareness and funds, and also as a show of solidarity with refugees who have already been through so much.

“On Day 4 I’m experiencing fatigue, sleep problems, brain fog, stomach cramps, constipation and headaches, so it’s a tough physical challenge.”

Rebecca, a mum of two boys aged two and five, is keeping a daily diary of the challenge on her food blog.

The money raised will support refugees in camps.

Rebecca can be sponsored here.

The Ration Challenge is in partnership with Concern Worldwide.