The operator of the DalesBus network of services is seeking additional volunteers to support its popular social enterprise.
Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company (D&BCIC) helps provide and promote public transport in and around the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale National Landscape areas.
More than 56,000 journeys were made on DalesBus services in 2024. That represented a growth of 5% on the previous year, and D&BCIC, which is owned by the charity Friends of the Dales, is looking to further expand the reach of the services.
It is looking for volunteers with skills or interests in: marketing bus and train services; recruiting, managing and supporting volunteers; generating and implementing ideas to improve the impact of DalesBus; and leadership, strategy and governance of organisations.
In summer 2025, DalesBus comprises three Saturday, and 18 Sunday and Bank Holiday bus services. Two Saturday and five Sunday services are due to continue through the winter.
Those who would like to join the DalesBus team are invited to email kevin@dalesandbowland.com to outline their relevant skills, ideas or interests.
Kevin Armstrong, D&BCIC Deputy Chair, says: “The public are showing that they need our services more than ever and we urgently need more help to rise to the challenge of maintaining and developing our services.
“If we can help ensure that more bus services into and around the Dales are well run and marketed, we can connect more people to communities and the countryside without the use of a car.
“By doing this, we can do more to reduce social isolation, encourage healthy exercise, relieve congestion, reduce pollution and support the local economy, expanding markets for local businesses.”
DalesBus, which was created in 2007 to step in and cover withdrawn tendered services in the Dales, is focused primarily on increasing bus connectivity for local communities, but it also helps promote all public transport in the area.
